INTERVIEW WITH MENSA ANSAH

Mensa Ansah is a UK based Ghanaian singer, emcee and producer. He is one of Ghana's most hardworking artistes. Combining virtues, humuor and good hip hop/ hip life beats, Mensa is able to reach his fans with real entertainment. Born into a family with interest in music and acting, it comes as no surprise seeing him do what he does. Mensa's father, Mr. Tumi Ebo Ansah was a guitarist of OSIBISA, a British Afro-Pop band. He was taught to play the keyboard by his mother while he was still very young. He is one of the early pioneers of Hip Life, as Reggie Rockstone soon recognised his producing, singing and rapping potentials.

Mensa's works have been recognised by many; CHANNEL O,KORA, MOBO AWARDS, GHANA MUSIC AWARDS (GMA) etc. He was once listed in the TOP 50 GHANAIANS TO BE WATCHED by the BBC.

LABANTI of the G.U.C caught up with him recently and had a little chat with him.



WHAT KINDA OF MUSIC DO YOU DO? HIPLIFE OR HIP HOP??

M3NSA: The truth is that I make all kinds of music that I find interesting or appeals to me, anything I can vibe to, I might dip my finger into it...So to speak, but, Hip-hop is a big influence for everything that I do. I don't mind too much what people call my music, so long as they are feeling it, and I can keep enjoying making it!

EJUMA IS PROBABLY YOUR LATEST HIT SINGLE. WHAT INSPIRED IT??

M3NSA: Well ''ADJUMA'' was something that I never really took seriously, initially I was just messing around with a concept in my head one morning, and by the end of the day I had the whole first verse in my head. So I sat down one day and produced a beat and recorded the vocals for it all at one go, it initially came to me cos I was contemplating on a subject matter that EVERYONE can relate... and Work/Hustle/ Occupation is something that everyone must do, but the whole idea was to make it more fun, instead of a depressing song, and that's how ''ADJUMA'' came by


I HEAR YOU ARE WORKING ON A PROJECT WITH YOUR PAL, WANLOV. COULD YOU PLEASE TELL US WHAT IT IS ABOUT AND WHEN TO EXPECT IT??

M3NSA: A few years ago Wanlov and I met in New Jersey and decided to do an album together, but we wanted to do something different from the average "collabo" between two seasoned musicians, so for a period discussing ideas, we developed a concept of doing the world's first pidgin musical, and in that process made it into a short feature called ''COZ OV MONI'' so its a very well produced film, but with all the dialogue/conversation in music... a funny yet introspective take on the lives of two good friends living in Accra.

WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS AS AN ARTISTE?

M3NSA:I just hope that in 30 years to come, my music will still be relevant and be blessed to make even more music...

BEING A UK BASED GHANAIAN ARTISTE, HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC DOWN HERE?

M3NSA:Well there are a few creative ways of promoting music these days, I try and maintain a big online presence, giving away free music, being active on social networks that connect to my music, and just putting out good material all the time, I also have a few videos floating about on the internet and on TV in Ghana. Though nothing beats being in Ghana and making all the necessary moves to stay on the minds of the people.

TALKING ABOUT YOUR MUSIC, WHICH GROUP OF PEOPLE DO YOU TARGET?
M3NSA:I target people who enjoy good music, people who want more than just a pop song that is going to fade away in 3 months, I try and add a lot of afrobeat, highlife, jazz and old school hip hop in my music, so if you're a fan of any of these genres then there is something in there for you! ''NO.1 MANGO STREET'' my new album coming out in the next month is a perfect example, its the most fun album I've ever made to date!

IN YOUR OWN OPINION, HOW DO PEOPLE RECEIVE YOUR MUSIC???

M3NSA: People always have something good to say about my music. I mean you can't please everyone all time, but so long as I am still enjoying what I do, and I get to play loads of gigs, then it means I'm doing something right. The most complaint I've had is that they can't get enough of my music!

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE RECENT CHANGE IN THE PHASE OF GHANAIAN MUSIC???

M3NSA: Change is good! But change without direction can be disastrous! there's a lot of buzz with the current Ghanaian ''industry'', There was a stage when the music seemed stagnant and not very creative, with all the so called payola business. Now things seem to be picking up, we have some very talented young musicians and Ghanaians seem to be taking the arts more seriously, there's more room for growth but we're getting there!

INTERVIEW BY LABANTI

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Wanlov DaKubolor (Biography)

Wanlov is a half Romanian. He was born in Romania and raised in Ghana. He speaks Twi, English, Romanian and Pidgin English quite fluently.

Wanlov began by rapping lyrics of his favourite artistes; Busta Rhymes and Snoop dogg with his friends back in Adisadel college where he attended his Senior High School in Ghana. During those days he was known by friends and fans as Spooky.

He moved to the states to pursue higher education. Within two years in Temple, Texas, Wanlov was able to win over the respect of the local emcees in the Central Texas area with his pure talent,charisma and unrivaled lyrical skill.

After performing at local events and shows, he ventured out of Texas, making his imprints in both coasts.

Sometime in his life, Wanlov went through I.N.S abduction to a private holding facility in Laredo, TX for school status reasons. The pain of the injustice inflicted on him and most of the detainees he met in there and along the way, led him to the release of BAIL MONEY, a cry for help from family, friends and fans, giving a pretty detailed account of the hardship he went through during that period. This song caught the attention of SOURCE MAGAZINE editor, Geo Hagan, who decided to give Wanlov the necessary exposure he needed. He was featured in the spring 04 edition of the Ave Magazine.

Wanlov, seeing how hard it was to get into the music industry with positive, socially conscious messages while maintaining maintaining secular appeal, decided to started a record label; ROAR ENTERTAINMENT with his childhood best friend and fellow rapper, Gerald Hagan. With this foundation Wanlov was able to further promote himself and seek other "conscious" artistes to work with.

In the early months of 2005, Wanlov performed at Project Blowed in L.A's Leimert Park. He earned respect from the local and visiting emcees and audience alike. He performances keep the audience yearning for more.

He has many hit tracks as KOKONSA, SMALLEST TIME and recently an underground single ; BROKEN LANGUAGE, with his long time friend M3nsa, a UK based rapper of Ghanaian decent. They are also working together on a big time project, which all fans of his, M3nsa and music as a whole should be expecting.

Wanlov came down to Ghana to continue his career, and has since been based here. He has proved to be a multi-talented artiste.


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