Seven years after his debut album, the Ghanaian rapper has stayed true to his roots, filling his songs with originality and showcasing his culture through his dialect. A style that has made him one of the original rappers from his country. On his third studio album, he shows he’s in full command of his music, it’s richly produced, introspective, and draws from mid-tempo bop, burger highlife, and disco.
“Odo Awaamu” is the richest album I have heard all year so far. Everything is carefully presented, from the dark days to the love-filled days, he doesn’t hold back, he says it all as it is. Much of the album’s buoyancy comes from Pure Akan’s palpable love for the craft. The opener “Ntesuo Nkoaa Nnante”, is the perfect example, for a few seconds, I thought I was listening to Okomfo Kwadee, a legendary Ghanaian hiplife artiste, just that there’s lo-fi aesthetics here, a sonic representation of Akan. It’s a fitting opener, with a beat switch to soft rock which doesn’t stop Akan from flowing. The lead single “Auntie Bete”, still holds the touch of love and bop. Split between Ghanaian household jargon hooks and fitful rhymes, it’s a bop in mid-tempo.
On songs like “Odo Aduane” and “Ma Twen Abre,” he thaws his monotone with a soft lilt, delivering verses that often veer toward the poetic and cerebral, eschewing traditional rhyme patterns and subject matter for anxiety, love, dedication, trust, and loyalty. “Ma Twen Abre” on the other hand is pure disco, with the help of producer Joey Turkson, they settle in their comfort zone, assembling four-on-the-floor drums, thick slabs of bass, and simple chords throughout to create a warm facsimile of old-school funk/Ghanaian Disco. The feature list is an interesting one, “Den Ntia” has shades of proper Ghanaian highlife, with Fameye as a committed agent to the song. He showcased his mastery, reminding us why he is a product of Ghanaian culture. However, “Odo Ye Aduro” is the best collaboration on the album, Akan allows Marince Omario to send the same message across, but in his native language, allowing the message to reach everyone through Titi Owusu’s crooning in English, a letter for all. One thing about Akan is that he will be flexible with his durations to accommodate artistic expression, the song runs for almost 7 minutes, yet holds heavy replay value thanks to the magic created here.
“Yede Gye Sen” is still the best song on the album, Akan runs it back with Joey Turkson, and it’s a masterpiece. The duo creates a cresting wave of 80’s disco synth and infectious electric guitar that carries Akan’s frantic, imagistic rapping, centred around matters of the heart. The song harbors the same voluminous reach while conveying messages of love and inclusiveness, resting in the heart of Ghanaian disco/Hiplife. Grammy-award-winning guitarist Joshua Moszi helms the boards on this new album alongside Nii Mants3, Jaja Moto, and A-level Music. The producers provide sunlit, old-school loungey beats full of vibraphones, chorused guitars, 80’s disco themes, and themes that paint the perfect picture of Akan’s artistry. The outro, “Medo Ye Sonkro”, is a soft touch that slowly unfolds over time, dipped in highlife, it’s alternately 80’s inspired and bluesy, embracing moody soundscapes and reflective lyricism through Akan’s raps, ending the project with Akan’s forte.
“Odo Awaamu” is full of subtle shifts that make the album tough to pin down, even though it’s sonically grounded in highlife and disco, there’s more to it. On a richly produced album, Pure Akan’s songcraft is heavily grounded in the past, juxtaposing painful and bright recollections against a mundane stream of scenes from his everyday life, scattering fragments of memories with poetic urgency, and a renewed respect for life and love.
