RollingStone magazine writes on ‘How Sarkodie Rewrote the Rules of African Hip-Hop’

Popular American magazine RollingStone has published an article on its website titled ‘How Sarkodie Rewrote the Rules of African Hip-Hop’. 

The feature by Robert Solomon is based on an interview with the Ghanaian rapper who is currently promoting his new album, ‘Jamz’.  Here is an excerpt from the feature:

Sarkodie had a dream — and a problem. He wanted to be a great rapper, but his native tongue, Twi, was not a language many understood, especially outside his hometown of Tema, Ghana. He wasn’t about to be deterred. “I believed that I was able to take Twi somewhere,” he says. “That I was able to push it and go beyond the shores of Ghana.”

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Sarkodie came up through the underground, and his battle skills and rap-fire delivery set him on an unstoppable upward trajectory as he rhymed mostly in Twi. He earned a rabid fan base across Africa, the U.K., and the U.S. — a feat many African rappers have attempted but failed to achieve — and even took home Best International Flow at the BET Awards in 2019. At the same time, Sarkodie, born Michael Owusu, also became an integral part of a Ghanaian hip-hop scene that’s home to one of Africa’s largest rosters of rappers, with artists such as Kwesi Arthur, Black Sheriff, Yaw Tog, and Medikal constructing cross-continental hits.

As the years progressed, so did Sarkodie’s abilities. His bars have become more clever and considered, full of acerbic wordplay and heartfelt, true-life stories. Sarkodie’s last full-length effort, 2021’s No Pressure, showed off the rapper’s elite lyricism while also pulling in generation- and continent-spanning features from Oxlade, Giggs, Kwesi Arthur, Vic Mensa, and others.

Now, he’s back with another new album — JAMZ, which blends African-inspired hip-hop, tropical Afropop, and vibrant amapiano. Ahead of the album’s Friday release, Rolling Stone spoke with Sarkodie about the new project, his evolution as an artist, and his secrets to his long-term success.

Read the full interview on RollingStone.com.