Sounding rural modernity in Ghana  BY FRANCESCO S. LONGO   

 

 Clockwise from top left: 1. Approaching Ngelekazo from the East with Cecilia and Evans. 2. A wreck on the beach in front of the village. 3. Ngelekazo’s centre (note the horns above the pink-and-green kiosk).   Last summer I spent five weeks in southwestern Ghana in preparation for my MA Music in                               Development dissertation. From late June to early August I lived in the Nzema-speaking seaside                           village of Ngelekazo, to keep exploring the sonic and musical aspects of everyday life in a rural                                 setting. Travelling across the Jomoro District, an area extensively wedged between the Gulf of                           Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, I visited again places and people that took part in an earlier fieldwork while I                                     was studying Anthropology at Sapienza University of Rome in 2013-2014. As a recipient of the 2017                               John Taylor Music Travel Grant, in fact, I had the opportunity to fly back to Ghana to expand from a                                       new angle the project I have started four years ago, which is the ethnography of contemporary                               musical life in rural Ghana. This time I diverted my focus from musicians’ struggles to look at how                                   loudspeaker-mediated sounds inform the ways in which rural modernities are experienced,                     negotiated and expressed. Here I will present some ‘postcards’ from my time in Nzemaland. 

 

 

SOUND SYSTEMS   

 Apparatus proudly displays the speaker stack of Step 2 Soundz just before a street party in Ngelekazo, Jomoro District.    While in Ngelekazo my       partner Cecilia and I lived         with a family that owned a           sound system, Step 2       Soundz. A valuable     economic resource in an       area with dramatic     unemployment rates, this     soundz - as sound       systems are commonly     dubbed - is a family         enterprise that takes     advantage of transnational     economic and affective     networks. The owner of       Step 2 Soundz, Simon       Kalley Ackah, works in       Rome as a bricklayer and decided to buy it for his nephew (Apparatus) and his brother-in-law (DJ                                 Spirit). Even though ‘Ghana is hard’, as people often say to complain about the economy, a public                                 event or celebration isn’t complete without the presence of a PA system. Aside from business, Step                               2 Soundz family compound rapidly became the epicenter of youth leisure activities in Ngelekazo,                           as occasional dancing parties were thrown just outside its premises.   

 

 

  Clockwise from top left: 1. DJ Spirit tunes up the sound system. 2. Apparatus practices on Virtual DJ while hanging out with friends.                                             3. DJ Spirit lights up the street party from the compound porch.   

 

 

BRASS BAND PARADES 

  A young girl poses during a brass band parade that passed through the settlements of Ezinlibo, Nawule, Ndumsuazo and Bonyere,  a major population cluster in Jomoro District.   Known as ‘picnics’, brass band parades are still a very much alive sonic and social institution of                                 Southern Ghana. St. Peter Claver Catholic Brass Band (SPCCBB) hails from Nawule, a hilly village                             that hosts a renowned Christian sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. SPCCBB is one of the                                 most respected bands in the Nzema area, often hired for a wide range of events that span from                                   funerals to political rallies. Their repertoire includes hymns, highlifes, local tunes and popular                         songs. A recent introduction in their routine is ‘Onaapo’, a jama tune recorded by Dee Aja for then                                   incumbent President John Mahama’s 2016 campaign. Since Mahama’s electoral defeat against                     Nana Akufo-Addo, the tune has been humorously appropriated by NPP supporters. Whether                       constituted of NPP or NDC sympathisers, I can certainly tell that the crowd was ignited by                               SPCCBB’s rendition of the song. 

 

 

   

 

Clockwise from top left: 1. Getting into the groove with St. Peter Claver Catholic Brass Band. 2. The parade stops briefly after leaving                                             Annor Adjaye Senior High School in Ezinlibo, Jomoro District 3. Jooohn Threee Sixteeeeen! Paraders dance to ‘Onaapo’ while                                   approaching Nawule. 4.Trombonists Matthew and Isaac from SPCCBB caught in an animated discussion.   

 

 

RECORDING ARTISTS 

 Rising star 4mula addresses the crowd at his record launching event in central Samenye, Jomoro District.   Digital technologies revolutionised the modalities of music production and circulation, at the same                         time tearing down and reinventing the music industry. As a result of the increased access to                               recording technologies, music production has become largely decentralised. The Nzema area is                       punctuated with small, even domestic recording studios that have started to appear during the last                             decade. Artists are struggling to build and sustain a music scene, oscillating between DIY practices                             and a search for official recognition and patronage. I first met 4mula together with now engineer                               and radio host Kingsberg in 2014, when they were setting up a studio in Aiyinasi, a market town in                                     neighbouring Ellembelle District. 4mula has since become a major player in the local                         dancehall/hiplife panorama. He claims the title of boko belemgbunli (king of the hustle), as he                             juggles between a larger than life attitude and precarious patronage relations.    

 

 

Clockwise from top left: 1 & 2. Versatile artist Kin Monster poses inside his temporary studio/bedroom in Mpataba, inland Jomoro                                       District. 3. Singer and engineer Kid Star working inside Kid Studio, situated in a two-storey commercial building in Tikobo no. 1.  

 

 

 Clockwise from top: 1. Kingsberg sings along with a gospel track he just composed and recorded with Kin Monster at Break Through                                           Recording Studio, Samenye. 2. A poster outside Kid Studio promoting an award event organised by the Nzema Musicians                                   Association. 3. Digital flyer that circulated on Whatsapp group chats and Facebook to promote 4mula’s record launching (date and                                     venue were later changed).  

 

 

LOCAL FMs  

 Ngelekazo’s local FM at night. Its horn loudspeakers broadcasted music and talk radio programs at loud volumes for most of the 

day.   When people talk about local FMs, they are not referring to proper radio stations (there are five in the                                     three Nzema districts of Western Region). A local FM is a privately owned PA system that broadcasts                                 through horn loudspeakers. There is one of them in almost every community, while larger settlements                             can have more. Depending on the personality and the political affiliation of the owner, local FMs in the                                   Nzema area can broadcast everything from Ivorian zouglou mixes to angry political rantings, but their                             primary purpose should be to deliver important messages upon payment. Nowadays local FMs                         overlap the Akan sonic institution of ‘beating the gongon’ (iron double-bell), which is one of the many                                 sounded expressions of the chieftaincy political system. The effects of the liberalisation of auditory                           spaces have been in some instances dramatic, fomenting latent conflicts and inspiring court bans. 

 

 

  

 Clockwise from top: Advertising 4mula’s launching from DJ Charlnii’s local FM, Tikobo no. 1. 2. DJ Charlnii, a major animator of                                         Nzema music, smiles outside Kid Studio; the local FM is located on the opposite side of the main road. 3. DJ Charlnii’s horn tower.      

 

 

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 Getting an haircut at Shadows’ booth, Beyin. Note the wallpaper displaying ‘VIBRANT GHANAIAN MUSIC ICONS’ just above another one                                     about American hip hop artists (ph. Cecilia Draicchio).