It’s a hot Tuesday afternoon in Ghana. April 15th. Rocky Dawuni, joins a call. Seemingly looking calm and refreshed. He was enjoying the sweet summer weather in Ghana, coming back from a trip to the USA a week prior. If you’ve ever met Rocky Dawuni, you would notice that he has a very calm and welcoming aura. Even amidst his regal and imposing presence, there’s this luminous energy that draws people closer to him, to have hearty conversations, and this interview was no different. He joins the call very lucidly. He looked into his camera and asked me if this was going to be a video call, I confirmed with him that it was just going to be audio only, so he could be relaxed and expressive in his answers.
He is glad to be back in Ghana, his place of residence. He had recently flown to the USA as part of a delegation to help push an act on artificial intelligence that could help creators and musicians, “The next event was us going on to the United Nations Senate and having meetings with various senators, both Republican and Democratic leaders, to try and push through a new act called the “NO FAKES Act”. The Act is to protect creative people from people stealing their voice, image, and likeness through artificial intelligence and exploiting it without consent or compensation for people using that imagery. This was important for us to create new laws that will protect creative people all around the world, from musicians to artists, in terms of people misusing AI to represent them in a way that is not representative of their own identity and brand.”
Rocky Dawuni has had a career that spans over three decades. He pioneered a new sound called Afro Roots, where he mixed multiple genres, such as Ghanaian highlife music, reggae, and multiple indigenous sounds that emanate from the rich culture of Ghana. Speaking on Afro Roots, he says, “The concept of Afro Roots is not to stay stagnant but to constantly embrace the innovations in the sound. Afrobeat is a big dimension of Afro Roots, both from the Fela Afrobeat and the modern Afrobeats. These are all elements that are reintegrated into the style of my music here, but at the core of it is that the music has a message. The music represents something. The music elevates the concept and the culture of being African and also aspires for a cultural unity that can only be embedded in our music as it transcends all the borders that have come to divide us.”
Growing up, Rocky Dawuni wasn’t a stranger to music. Joining a cultural program in school, he tapped into and was influenced by multiple types of indigenous music that were played in all parts of the country. “I was very lucky that the primary school that I attended had a cultural program. I learned all the cultural music of different parts of the country through being a member of this cultural group. The dances, the rhythms, whether it’s the Volta, Northern, or Ashanti region, all the indigenous stuff. Then in addition to the indigenous styles from the Wulomei or Chajeloi or other people that were using indigenous styles, but tried to bridge it to contemporary variants.”
The intention with the release of his first album, “The Movement”, in 1996, was to be an inspiration and a catalyst to raise a generation of bold individuals who would create music and art reflective of African culture. “The Movement” was a declaration of my intention about the longevity of what I stood for as an artist. The mission is to not only be steeped in one album, but a mission to be a seed and a cultural catalyst to inspire people to create in a way that reflects the African identity and also projects what it is to be African. I think that from that declaration, it has become very apparent in terms of what my music has been able to do to push the agenda of the African musical movement, mixing sounds from local to the diaspora, and introducing elements of our indigenous language motifs.”
Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, constantly being a voice in preaching on the socio-political issues plaguing the culture and environment in Ghana and Africa as a whole. A social voice in his own right, he doesn’t shy away from expressing his views about what is important and what is needed in helping to improve the environment in Ghana. Throughout the interview, you can feel in his tone and delivery, how proud he is to be African and how much change he wants to impart to the people of the land. Not to take too much of your time, I want you all to delve into the conversation, and enjoy the experiences, wisdom, and acuity of a true legend.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Good morning Sir, How are you feeling today?
I just traveled recently to go and be part of a delegation of music leaders from the Recording Academy of America, the Screenwriters Guild of America, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Senate to push through legislation on artificial intelligence and independent musician issues. This was a trip that I took and it was part of “Grammy on the Hill”, which is bringing together and celebrating the power of music on Capitol Hill while engaging lawmakers to change various laws that have to do with that. The finale of the event was the Future of Music Summit. On the first day, they were honoring legends who have been instrumental in pushing American music and global music around. This year their focus was on country music. They were celebrating the country music legend, Randy Travis. He was very instrumental in articulating the AI and music issues that are at the forefront of a lot of conversations today. The first evening was honoring him, which I attended in my capacity. We also had the attendance of the action ambassador of the Ghanaian mission who also participated. I invited some folks who are also connected to our country to be part of this, to observe and see how we could leverage the conversations and know how to impact our industry and contribute to our industry. The next event was us going on to the United Nations Senate and having meetings with various senators, both Republican and Democratic leaders, to try and push through a new act called the “NO FAKES Act”. The Act is to protect creative people from people stealing their voice, image, and likeness through artificial intelligence and exploiting it without consent or compensation for people using that imagery. This was important for us to create new laws that will protect creative people all around the world, from musicians to artists, in terms of people misusing AI to represent them in a way that is not representative of their own identity and brand. The following day, I was also a panelist with a lot of music industry officials discussing the future of music. The talk was on the importance of the rise of African music at this time, the critical contribution of African music to the whole global landscape, and the need for systemic investments and partnership opportunities to amplify the creative economy on the continent, based on my own stories. That was the third part of the trip. It was a very pivotal and timely gathering in the U.S. Capitol for ideas and laws that could impact the industry for several years to come.
I wanted to talk to you about your sound. How did you come up with that? What are the genres that helped you shape Afro Roots?
First of all, the foundation of Afro Roots, I think we can start from our indigenous culture as an African. I believe that this is fundamental to every African musician. Your community, your environment, the traditional music of the place. I was very lucky that the primary school that I attended had a cultural program. I learned all the cultural music of different parts of the country through being a member of this cultural group. The dances, the rhythms, whether it’s the Volta, Northern, or Ashanti region, all the indigenous stuff. In addition to the indigenous styles from the Wulomei or Chajeloi or other people that were using indigenous styles, but trying to bridge it to contemporary variants of it. These were the original places that I started getting influenced by. Highlife music is also the contemporary style of Ghana. Highlife music also played a very strong role in shaping my earlier musical worldview, but Reggae music became the music that I started gravitating towards in terms of a diasporan music dimension. Reggae music was attractive to me because I felt it always referenced Africa, and its mission was to magnify Africa, elevate African culture, and be a medium to articulate the sociopolitical environment of African and diasporan communities. The message aspect of that attracted me. In addition to other influences like Hip-Hop, other American styles, Highlife music, and indigenous music, which was the music of my identity. I grew up with the rich influences of all of these styles so my identity too came out of all of these influences, and Afro Roots was born out of that because I did not see the differences, dividing lines or genres when I listened to these styles of music. They all made sense to me. My updating of the style was to present it in a way that was influenced by all of these, but at the same time, it was a focused style, and it was driven by the groups of Africa because that’s who I am. The storytelling of indigenous music, the moral consciousness of Reggae music, and the global attitude of American Pop and Hip-Hop. The concept of Afro Roots is not to stay stagnant but to constantly embrace the innovations in the sound. Afrobeat is a big dimension of Afro Roots, both from the Fela Afrobeat and the modern Afrobeats. These are all elements that are reintegrated into the style of my music here, but at the core of it is that the music has a message. The music represents something. The music elevates the concept and the culture of being African and also aspires for a cultural unity that can only be embedded in our music as it transcends all the borders that have come to divide us. I feel that it’s like the idea of the future sound of Africa, which is a dynamic sound that is not steeped in one particular genre but is based upon the living culture of the people who are sharing it and projecting it.
Reggae is rooted in rebellion and spirituality. How do you adapt these themes to reflect the Ghanaian identity and the modern African experience?
Rebellion does not necessarily mean taking up arms. Rebellion is a mindset of challenging accepted cultural norms and reprogramming yourself to elevate what truly is your identity. The rebellion aspect of Reggae music that I would say was adapted into my music is to re-engineer the post-colonial mindset of our people. You only have to look around and see that, not only me, but most of us, sometimes aspire for Western culture through our education. If an idea comes out and we don’t see any white man talk about it and it’s our people, we don’t view the value in it unless somebody else comes to validate it. If a musical style is ours, we don’t put enough effort into conserving, preserving, and being proud of it, but if it’s something that is coming from outside, we project it. You look on our TV, whether it’s the Telenovelas, the hair that our women are wearing, that you can source from India, or the music that we’re listening to that is not ours, it all shows that culturally there is a need for us to start appreciating what we generate within ourselves. I feel that the mindset of rebellion is needed, especially right now. Looking at the world, everybody’s talking about looking inside. You go to America, they say America first, you go to other countries like China, China says China first. What about Africa? Africa must be Africa first, and how do we become Africa first? We start by appreciating the foundational cornerstones of our identity, which are our music and our culture, and projecting it. I feel that the rebellious mindset of Afro roots, which is distilled from Reggae music, pushes us to be appreciative of our culture, to support each other, to be united, and to look at Africa first. How do we take the concept of our traditions to support indigenous creative economy that is using traditional motifs to also express contemporary ideas? How do we support, from art to our painters, carvers, sewers, and weavers, and connect all of that to our music which boost the pride of who we are? I feel that that is where our music, mission, and vision can be a dynamic tool for socio-economic transformation, especially at a time when many have to look inward to generate a new path toward the future. That’s why I feel that my mission, music, and what I do are critical, especially in the times in which we live, to serve also a guiding light for where we should go.
You mentioned that growing up you were able to tap into the indigenous sounds by traveling with a group. I want to know the name of the group for the record.
It was a school, not a group. In terms of where I attended Primary school, we had a program that was based on learning indigenous music in a cultural group, and I joined that cultural group. That helped me to solidify my foundations in terms of appreciation of our indigenous music. When it comes to influences, in terms of Highlife music, I will go all the way from the music of African Brothers to people like City Boys, Obuoba J.A Adofo, to the styles of Koo Nimo, the Nwomkro style that you find in traditional Ashanti music, to the Simpa music of Dagbon, to the traditional Konkomba music of the Northern region. The diversity of sounds and music for us, it’s so much that it’s hard to even name all. These are some of the contemporary people that I learned from. To modern contemporaries like Amakye Dede to Rex Omar. These are all artists that when I started, I would check out their music and grow from there. Then newer styles like George Darko, who was fusing Highlife music and European pop for Borga High to Reggie Rockstone, mixing Hip-Hop with Highlife music. All of these are elements that over time were inspirational to my evolution.
You’ve performed with many legends when you started your music. Of all the legends you’ve collaborated with and the ones that you’ve been on stage with, who did you enjoy collaborating with and what one moment left a lasting impression on you?
I think that’s unquestionably Stevie Wonder. There was a big festival that was held in one of the biggest venues in the world, the Hollywood Bowl in California. It was headlined by Stevie Wonder, with artists like myself, Janelle Monae, and various artists from around the world also invited to play. This is one of the most prestigious venues in the world. We talk of Glastonbury, and Coachella, Hollywood Bowl is one of the spaces where when you get an opportunity to play, you have arrived and I was booked to perform there. When Stevie Wonder came to perform the song “Higher Ground”, he invited me, Janelle Monáe, and all of these other artists who were on the bill to join him for that finale. We performed that iconic song together for thousands of people at this historic venue. For me, as an artist who started from humble beginnings here in Ghana, I had a dream to bring and share my music around the world and try to make a global impact with it and here I was, on one of the most prestigious stages in the world with one of the most iconic figures in music, with timeless iconic figures in music, coming together in an amazing venue. I felt that it was, for me, a symbol of the impact not only my artistry but also collectively African music has made. That has been very apparent right now, as we see more African artists play in some of these very iconic venues, but that experience was very magical and an indelible slice of a milestone for me in my journey as a musician.
When did young Rocky Dawuni decide to be a musician and share his art with the world?
I think that it was all born out of a mindset of a belief in your God-given talents. I think when I was growing up, I had a clear idea that I was gifted when it came to music; singing, and using my creativity as my expression. My path was something that was decided very early, but at the same time, I also knew that growing as a child here you have your parents investing in your education. Your parents want to see you move up in your education and make something out of your life. I recognized quickly that I could be a better musician if I expanded my intellectual capacity with formal education. These all went hand in hand and I think that that vision where I wanted to not only be a musician that represented my culture but could also share my culture with the rest of the world was defined and I followed all of these steps that I felt could sharpen my ability to be successful in that mission. That mindset was something that started very early and I never wavered with all the challenges that came along the way. All the trials and tribulations that came with trying to stay true to a craft where you had to take every major step by yourself, and it required a lot of self-sacrifice and self-investment in terms of being able to move forward when many people give up on that dream along the way. I think that was the resilience from the onset that kept me going until that Hollywood Bowl moment with Stevie Wonder singing “Higher Ground”, which for me was an apex of that journey in so many different dimensions.
Which instruments and sounds do you incorporate into your music to tell the stories that you want to tell the generation that you came up with and the one coming after you?
First of all, we are a rhythmic people. We like to groove and dance. As much as certain times I write music that is esoteric and spiritual, a lot of the Afro Root sound is also grooved in the ability to make you groove and dance. Our traditional music when there’s a Kpanlogo drum being played, you can’t sit on the sidewalk, you have to move. When you go to the Volta region, they are playing Borborbor somewhere, you go to a traditional funeral or you go to a similar thing in Tamale, all of these styles of music are driven by groove and rhythm and the ability to dance. For me, that element to have, like the percussion to aid that, the bells, the claps, and all of these things that are part of our traditional music. The call and response dimension, our music, integrating all of these elements into my creativity and then adding the element of message to it, for me, is staying true to the core of being African. I feel that those are elements that you will find integrated into the concept of my songwriting, with the African element at the heart of it.
You released your first album in 1996, “The Movement. What was the message you wanted to come up with and why was “The Movement” the name for the debut album of Rocky Dawuni?
When you are stepping on the scene, you come with a declaration of intention. “The Movement” was a declaration of my intention about the longevity of what I stood for as an artist. The mission is to not only be steeped in one album, but the mission being a seed and a cultural catalyst to inspire people to create in a way that reflects the African identity and also projects what it is to be African. I think that from that declaration, it has become very apparent in terms of what my music has been able to do to push the agenda of the African musical movement, mixing sounds from local to the diaspora, and introducing elements of our indigenous language motifs.
Fela did a lot of that with Pidgin English. Bringing elements of Pidgin English into Reggae music in some of my compositions and all of that in Afro Roots to the extent of also culturally infusing Reggae with diasporan sounds and local indigenous sounds. These were all ideas of what “The Movement” was. “The Movement” is sowing the seeds so that generations can come and look and inspire innovations. Up to the point of our first Grammy nominations, opening the concept and the door for something like that that is possible for artists, for us who are creating from here to aspire to that. All of those things are part of “The Movement” to show that, we come as not only one person, but in droves, in waves, and mine is, a movement that is also inspiring other movements that are all following in the wake, ultimately to push Ghana and African music to the world. That was the vision and mission of “The Movement”. I think that you can bear witness with me that so far in my journey, it’s borne a lot of very apparent fruits.
Songs like “In Ghana” and “African Thriller” showcase your ability to mix joy with social commentary. How do you craft your lyrics to hit deep but still make people want to dance?
We are joyful people. We can have our differences but when somebody starts playing something groovy, Chale, we all go sing. If you go to our festivals, our jama sessions, and all of that, we love to embrace and be joyful about life and celebrate each other and sing together which is a very core element of we as a people. The writing comes from inspiration which means that you have to think deeply about your understanding of the deepest aspect of your culture for you to be able to communicate with the right words, the right melodies, and the right intentions without the music being overbearingly preachy but igniting a point of conversation, a point of interest in a joyful way and, sparing the thinking cap on the dancing audience to dance but still have the entertainment of being part of their experience. I think that I write from that perspective. I write certain songs that are just joyful without even trying to put in a message but in the joyfulness, that’s the message. The joyfulness of loving the experience of being there and sharing, singing, and dancing together is in itself a message of unity, harmony, and oneness. The message comes in different ways. It could be rhythmic without being lyrical. It could be melodic without being rhythmic. It all depends on the nature of the song and how you want to position that musical conversation. I think that that is how my creativity, the mechanism that goes on a lot of times when I’m creating something for it to resonate in all those areas.
Your vocals have this soulful, uplifting quality. Are there any techniques that you draw on to create that signature tone or is there any influence in how you vocalize your message?
I think the way I vocalize my message is also finding the honesty in your delivery. I think that we artists at some point, you write a song, you are influenced by different things and when you have to communicate that in a way of a recording, it’s like, how do you want to communicate it? It has to reflect your truth and I believe that if you’re honest with what your truth is, others can find their truth in what you are saying. That heartfelt dimension is my internal mechanism of expressing my truth in my voice, in the cadence of the delivery, in the melody, and in the way that I impart the emotion that is meant to convey the message of the song. It’s just me trying to be as honest as I can to deliver whatever emotion that I feel that the music is going to try to carry across. That is what has been key for them to be able to have that kind of resonance when the listener listens to it.
Which song in your catalog felt personal to you? Which song or project was personal to you that you often listen to for motivation?
There are a lot of songs that have been instrumental in terms of my journey. Some of them were based on pushing the boundaries. It was more like being in between certain traditional instruments and elements. If it’s a song that is simple and conveys the sentiment of what I represent in a way that is unifying, harmonious and non-judgmental, I’ll say a current song like “Beautiful People” presents a very simple but accessible message of what I represent. When you listen to a song like “Woara”, which is my representation of mixing elements of Palm Wine HighLife music, and Nwomkro, to create a contemporary global love song that is universal. It also shows how you can use our traditional Indigenous influences to make a song that has global implications. I feel that these two songs show different dimensions, one that is infused with cultural motifs and one that also has a supreme message of unity and harmony, which are all different dimensions of what I represent and what Afro Roots represents.
Which song did you make for yourself?
It’s such an odd question because every song is like a baby. It’s like having a family and then trying to choose your favorites. They were all favorites at a certain point during the creation and incubation point of the sound. I would say that obviously “In Ghana”, for me, is a song that was so deeply personal, so deeply spiritual and so deeply reflective of how I feel about not only myself but also our country and continent as a whole. It was a song that was inspired by the vision of our forefathers, and our ancestors. From our diasporan ancestors like Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Haile Selassie, Bob Marley, Kwame Nkrumah, to Thomas Sankara; All of these leaders. The inspiration of these leaders in a way for a song that expressed my joy of being glad that I’m from this amazing land and representing the vision of this culturally rich land with so much promise for not only the continent of Africa but also we as a people. I’ll say that “In Ghana” was the definitive song that represented me in every aspect, my most personal.
What were some of the obstacles and challenges you faced throughout your career? Which ones cut deep to the point that you wanted to stop? And which ones propelled you to do more?
With every pathway you’re going to deal with challenges. First of all, growing up here, we were never a country that was blessed with institutions that ensure that when you are creative, you can get the right systemic support and be able to create a career and have those institutions to help you with what is required to be successful. That means that most of the path, the burden has to be on you, the individual, to not only be creative but also see how you can navigate those things. First of all, it’s funding that every artist faces. You either go to somebody who loves your music and believes in your talent to fund it, you self-fund it, or you find a business that will see potential in investing in what your talent is for it to grow. These were challenges that I faced, and all of those things were very hard for me to find anybody to help me in those dimensions. We didn’t have record labels or a system where, when you make music, you could be able to promote, in terms of getting radio and airplay. Radio and airplay were a very tough area, even after you create the music, to be able to navigate all of the complexity that lies within the ecosystem of getting your music to be played is one of those things that every musician faces. Systemic challenges, I was also facing the same thing. My whole thing was to come to the point that I had to do a lot of the heavy lifting myself. Whenever I came up against a stumbling block, I tried to find how to solve those by also having a system mindset to figure out how I could circumvent that.
Without having a record label to help me, I established my own private independent record label. I went to the US to intern with a real record label to learn about how to put a record label together. I started a record label with that information and released my first record, “The Movement” and all the records that I’ve done on that record label. I didn’t wait for the system to catch up with me, I had to go and figure out how to create my system. At every stage, you come against a stumbling block and you have to figure out a way around it. That has been the pathway, but I have never seen any challenge as an obstacle, I always saw them as opportunities to rise further, learn further, and be strong in my conviction to try and create the best music that I could to learn. In the long run, the music has to speak for you. So I wanted to make the best music and I have continued to evolve in my music.
You’ve earned multiple Grammy nominations, a rare feat for an African artist. What does that accomplishment mean to you?
As an artist, the focus has been on growing my music and winning new audiences. So every level of recognition adds a certain element of attention to your creativity, especially when it comes from outside of your boundary of cultural jurisdiction which outside of the continent. Peers from around the world and institutions that reward a certain level of artistic excellence have been paying attention to my creativity. I felt that that went a long way to also keep spurring me on. Here I am, creating, pushing, traveling, playing in different parts of the world, touring, doing things in silence, being an advocate and activist who is pushing music, like recently going on to push for musicians’ rights at the highest level of politics in the American Congress and Senate. Every dimension pushes the aspect of creatives, so it’s not something that is only to self-serve me, but serve the bigger idea of what I represent. If there is any attention, I feel it is a validation of the work that I’ve been putting into and also my mission to constantly innovate so that people are taking notice.
You’ve worked with producers across continents. How do you ensure your sound stays authentically yours when collaborating with such diverse talents?
The producers I collaborate with are people who have been fans and have loved my music and the direction of my creativity or I have been a fan of their dimension of producing, which I feel elicits a different dimension of my creativity that I have not tapped into. The collaborations are a way to help me push forward in terms of my creativity. I approach working with producers in that sense and in doing so, I have people who come aboard to also interpret their idea of what the Afro-Root sound will sound like if they are the ones kind of helping me fashion that sound. In doing so, it’s pushing the dimensions of the Afro-Root sound, but also transforming the production dimensions from my hands into a collective mindset, and making it into an authentic movement that it’s not only a one-man show but a representation of an emerging sound from a continent that has so much to offer and share. These collaborations and these new dimensions of the songs, I believe are meant to project.
What is your creative process like? Do you have your lyrics planned out before you go to the studio or do you let the sound speak to you?
All of that. There are major songs that I just write on the guitar. So I write the songs, melodies, and everything because I also come from a producer’s mindset. I go into the studio and a lot of times I produce a lot of my recordings, but it could also be meeting a producer and he’d give me a beat and then I’ll write to that beat or melody or something in a different dimension. Sometimes I’ll go, equipped with pre-written lyrics or I’ll just get into the studio and just sing what comes out of my heart; So, inspiration. I have so many different doorways of writing and I feel that I have that versatility of appropriating so many different ways. Each of them also helped bring a new dimension to my songwriting and how I’m able to kind of carve and create a song. I do all of those and I think that I’m very comfortable with approaching it from all of those dimensions.
From when you dropped “The Movement” to your current album, “Voice of Bunbon Volume 1”, do you see an evolution in your sound from the very beginning to now?
Well, the evolution is a much better recording environment. The early recordings and the studios were great and all but as my career progressed, gained access to better studios, better engineers who have worked on bigger projects, and having them work with me. Mixers who are some of the best in the industry to work with. I have had progressive access to much more sophisticated creative and technical teams that have helped me make my sound better. New approaches and insights have helped me to grow in my creativity too and the way I approach music. I think that the sound has evolved, not changed, bringing also a much deeper element of contemporary styles yet steeping it in inspirational and cultural roots that have always been true to who I am. I think that, in that sense, the sound has evolved. I believe I have become a much better songwriter, and singer in so many different dimensions because I’ve been learning more and I’ve been exposed to more.
Your experiences span across Africa, the Caribbean, and the U.S. How do you stay connected to your roots while appealing to such a broad multicultural audience?
I live here. Most people have this fallacy that I live in California. I used to live there probably seven years ago and when I lived there, I spent half the time there, half the time in Ghana. So most of the time when I am here, I’m right here. I don’t necessarily have to make noise for everybody to know that I’m right here. I just go about living as every normal Ghanaian would do and then I travel from here to perform and do all that I need to do in different parts of the world and then I come back to my base. My base is strongly here so I’m constantly tapped into what is going on in the industry unless I feel there’s a need for me to articulate that. Beyond the music, I’m also very involved in other elements. My foundation, that work to inspire youth leadership and culture. I’m also involved in certain initiatives that I feel will be instrumental to also altogether creating central spaces for our overall creative economy and ecosystem. I just go and find knowledge and inspiration, bring it right back home, and re-infuse that into our space. That’s kind of what I do, bringing inspiration from the diaspora, the Americas to Europe, bringing it back, reintegrating it here, sharing it with different artists that I meet. I meet creatives all the time. I don’t need to amplify that, and we have conversations. Most of the time, even the one-on-one mentoring of the musicians that I meet every day and every time and talking to them without appearing like some teacher coming to give them advice. In my conversations, I try to impart them the knowledge that will be key and help them to also advance in what they are doing without making it an official thing, but it’s something I just give and share in my interactions.
With activism, what drove you to that side of life? What made you want to be that for people?
I believe that we are all children of God. We are all children of the Most High, and once you’re born on this earth, you are given a voice and a mission. You were born into this world and the earth takes care of you and feeds you. With medicine, our traditional herbs are meant to support all of us. If you see yourself as a citizen, an indigenous creation of the Most High, you have a responsibility to protect this earth and utilize your gifts and your blessings to also advance the will of God, as it has been bestowed on you through your talent and your creativity. Your voice is important, it doesn’t matter what you are doing, you have to leverage, and leverage does not mean money, leverage means the value of your insight, and experiences that your pathway have given you. If you have that pedestal to be able to share that, then it even adds more value to what your gift is. That’s why for me, activism is a key part of putting the creativity, gifts, and blessings into action and putting your responsibility as a child of God to be worthy of God’s grace. You’re not worthy of God’s grace just because you wake up in the morning and pray, God should just freely bless you with everything that you are asking for. You are praying with millions of other people who are all God’s children for those same gifts. What are you doing to be worthy of that gift? What are you doing to be worthy of being the child of God? They say love thy neighbor and brother as thyself, live righteously, and do good to others. What are you doing in all of those aspects to be worthy of that? I feel that leveraging your gifts and activism to push for the greater good, to be concerned about the livelihood of people, to also look at social issues can be a key to the protection of life on earth. To know that Galamsey is destroying our rivers which were created by God and that if you put cyanide into that water, you have killed millions of people because your action alone has put poison into people and destroyed something that God has created. We have to be able to point out all of those through the activism that we do to protect our trees, environment, and nature because if we destroy it, we are destroying life in itself. We have to have a vision, not to be blinded by our greed to only care for ourselves, our friends, and family at the expense of the greater good. I feel that this is not something that you have to go to church to be taught. It is innately in your nature to use your gifts to uphold that. This is what drives me to be an activist and to use my music and my voice to be worthy of God to give me blessings to do what I do every day.
With the success that you’ve gotten through your hard work, what advice would you give African artists and us in general trying to make our mark on the world stage?
I think that we are blessed with such a rich cultural environment for our music. We are blessed with a very vibrant youthful population that is articulating our identity at a time where we have new types of technology, new ways of sharing music, and a continent that is primed to culturally lead the world. That means that we have to be bold and brave in the things that we create and not feel like we only have to follow one genre that is catching on. When you look at Afrobeats and its success, it is one dimension of the diversity of African sound. New artists have to know that people love African creativity, not necessarily one genre. They should be bold to create and tap into the richness of our culture and express that in their music and be fearless in that creativity. I think that that fearlessness is what piques people’s attention. That is what makes people resonate with what you have to give and I think people want Africa to step into the leadership role, but the only way we can step into the leadership role is if we are fearless in our innovation. I believe that all the upcoming young musicians should use that as a guiding light and not feel the need to follow one trend and one style because it is gaining traction. Be yourself, create yourself, and start a movement. Let us harmonize our movements and become one collective moving out of the continent.
There is a problem with proper documentation in Ghana. Do you believe there’s something that we can do to save the rich artistry, and history that we have right now?
Absolutely. Going back to indigenous culture, we have always had the beauty of oral history. A lot of our history was in the form of music, our living culture, our customs, our indigenous foods, dressing, clothing, our rhythms, and more. That’s how we kept our indigenous music culture alive in terms of documentation. We documented it as a living and breathing dynamic culture, which was passed on to new generations but we are dealing with a time where it’s become a challenge for indigenous cultures to exist because the concept of community has been reorganized by the modern concept of community. When you go to a city, it’s not tribal or culturally based anymore. You have people from different countries all coming together. That concept has gone through an evolution that requires a proactive approach to preserve indigenous stuff. There’s a need for us to push for protection and documentation of what our culture is. This is not a responsibility of only the leadership, but the responsibility of all of us to be conduits and agents of documenting what is around us, what we remember, what we’re connected with, what our Indigenous foods are, indigenous medicine, the Indigenous trees, the indigenous dances, what our grandmothers are passing on to us, what our Abusuapanyins are talking to us. These are all valuable aspects of our indigenous culture. What are we doing personally to protect that in our little areas and communities? If we all change our mindsets to also help document and preserve that, we can create new superstructures that will come and be able to tap into that. We can be able to start protecting all of these valuable aspects of our community and our culture. That’s why I believe that this is the time for us to do it. We shouldn’t be waiting for anybody. We should be investing and inspiring each other to work in these areas.
Looking back at your career, what’s one decision that you made that you’re most proud of?
I’ll say that one decision that I made was to never lose sight of who I am, my identity, and my indigenous upbringing. I believe that, that is something that has been at the core and the nature of my being. I’ve navigated many countries, many challenges, and many situations, but one thing that has not wavered in that core aspect of me. I believe that that choice to hold that steadfast has been a key part of my journey.
What’s next for Rocky Dawuni? Are there any sounds you want to explore? Are there things that you want to enjoy?
Well, for me, the thing about the Afro Roots movement is that it is also a movement of self-discovery. I’m a musician, I’m also a farmer and an environmentalist. The farming culture of our people is important. I proudly have my cocoa and coconut farm. I’m proudly involved in initiatives to train people in mushroom farming and I also have beehives that have been working in terms of developing my honey. Protection of rivers, working with biodiverse areas like the last existing Hippo sanctuary in Wai Chau in the Wa traditional area. I have been hoping to draw attention to the protection of all of these natural biodiverse ecosystems that are all part of the mission and vision of what I represent. The music is the catalyst for the movement and the revolution. The revolution is finding who we are as Africans, not only in terms of our culture but in terms of our land and being real protectors of our rivers, indigenous species, who we are as a culture and using that as a foundation for our unity and forging that spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that is critical to us moving forward. Those are all what I am living and breathing and working towards every day. When you hear the music, don’t only dance, make sure that you’re thinking how can I also have my little farm and start planting my food and having that food sovereignty that we need as a people, especially in a time when food is going to be critical to us as a people and try to transform that as a movement.
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