Pidgin Slang & Politics: Paapa’s Fresh Urban Sound

By Robin Riskin

Kukua, I just got this scholarship
So I’ll be moving to the dollar ship.
I just want my dreams to set sail
Cause if I stay with you they might fail.

From “Write for me,” by Paapa (bit.ly/V3QSeo)

Paapa’s new song “Write for me” premiered tonight on YFM with Kobby Graham.

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Amidst a barrage of azonto beats, mindless lyrics, and money-flashing videos in the Ghanaian music scene, Paapa stands out as a thoughtful and serious artist. A self-described “Ghanaian, Musician, Skillionaire, Dreamer, Forgiven sinner” (his Facebook descrip), his fresh, contemporary, faith-inspired sounds refuse to quite fit into any box.

Mixing slang pidgin phrases with complex sociopolitical issues and soulful melodies, Paapa blends musical styles in a compelling cosmopolitan fusion. Think Lecrae or Mali Music’s conscious Christian rap, John Legend’s coffee piano soul, and Osibisa’s street groovy funk. Paapa writes and produces all his own music, often laboring for months over a single song.

Paapa Kwaku hMensa, who goes by the artist name Paapa, was signed four years ago at the age of 17 to Skillions Records, a Ghanaian label known for producing positive indie music, headed up by rap favorite Jayso. Today, Paapa balances his career as a musician with his schoolwork at Reed College in Oregon, US. Having made the most out of his debut album ‘Solar,’ released in July of 2011, he is gearing up for his second album release, ‘Songs for Kukua,’ coming out this March 6, to coincide with the 56th anniversary of Ghana’s independence.

Paapa synthed smooth tunes as a headlining artist at Accra[dot]Alt’s Ind!e Fuse last month.

This Sunday night, Paapa treated his fans to a pre-release of the single, “Write for me,” which premiered on YFM Radio with DJ Kobby Graham. The stunner of a song connects his personal experience of leaving Ghana for school in the U.S. to a larger narrative of the brain drain for Ghana and Africa. With soft piano strokes and slow guitar strums, Paapa sings an ode of regret and longing to his homeland Ghana, captured through the metaphorical character of Kukua.

Kukua, the name for Wednesday-borns in Ghanaian Akan traditions, matches Kwaku, Paapa’s own Wednesday day-name. The song plays out as a dialogue between the two, Kwaku telling Kukua he “just got a scholarship” and will be “moving to the dollar ship”; that the “cedi and pesewa” (Ghanaian currency) “cannot afford my dreams.” Kukua sings, “Please don’t l-e-eave me-e,” ending in a low tremor, “If you leave / Please write songs for me / And come back to me…”

Jayso (left) joined Paapa at his Family Reunion Concert Jan. 5 at Sytris Cafe. Paapa was signed by Jayso to the Skillions Records team at the age of 17.