Among these were Delasi with support from Yaw P, two of the local artists who just walked off the stage at the James Town beach venue. Their engagements in the festival goes months back to when they started preparing for their hip hop workshop with the Jamestown community kids.
Q: So you guys just came off stage after a very energetic performance – how do you feel right now?
Delasi:The energy was very electric, and the crowd were really taking to our music even if they never had heard it before. It was a real Chale Wote experience.
Q: So this venue is quite different from where you normally perform – how has it been to perform here?
Delasi: The venue was very great – it was really an experience being on the beach just next to the ocean and being part of the Jamestown community.
Delasi, known for his reccent hit single 'Where do we go now?', is currently working on the release of his new album 'Make Ups and Break Ups', an album made in collaboration with friend and co-artist Yaw P. The much anticipated album is a mix of Hip Hop and R&B, and the songs perfomed at tonights Chale Wote was from this new album.
Q: On stage you guys mentioned you have your joint album coming out this october – what can we expect from that?
Yaw P: Lots of fun stories, sad stories - make ups and break ups. Real life stories of boy meets girl. Most of the songs have a happy ending, but you will really be able to relate to it.
These real life stories seemed to struck a core with the James Town audience as the crowd went wild during their ecclectic perfomance. A somewhat perfect culmination on the two-day art festival. Chale Wote, literally meaning 'Man, let's go', is according to the organisers behind the festival a reference to how everybody have ”different walks in life” but still are able to have ”something valuable to contribute with”. It was with this in mind Delasi and Yaw P were part of a hip hop workshop for the James Town children. Here the children learnt about the history of hip hop and how to make their own music.
Q: You spend all day yesterday with the kids from James Town – how was that?
A: Delasi: It was really fun. The kids were very energetic and they really demanded our attention. We had a very good opportunity to bring out their talents and actually made a song with them. Hopefully we were able to inspire some of them to pursue music further in their lives.
Yaw P: It has always been important to us to share the talents we have, and hopefully have that inspire others. And the kids really enjoyed it - and even wanted to follow us to the studio. So we are seeing if that is something that is possible.
Q: This is the first time you have performed together at the Chale Wote – how do you see this festival in the future?
Delasi: Well the focus on this community and how to make a change positively through music is really important. Music is such a powerful tool – it is not just about entertainment, but you can really influence your community and even your country through music. Music really has power.
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| Delasi On Stage. |
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| Delasi and Yaw P before the show |
It was two tired and satisfied artists, who left the stage area after this year´s Chale Wote. It will be exciting to follow their future adventures on the Ghanaian music stage. As for the Chale Wote Street Art Festival 2013, it was a pleasure as always, and it will be interesting to see what the creative community of Ghana will bring of of alternative exhibitions and events at next year´s Chale Wote.
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