...the sounds of our time

MOBO's 2006 winners

I was very excited to hear about Batman aka Emmanuel Samini's nomination for best African artiste at the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards. I was skeptical about his ability to win the award since he was competing against seasoned African musicians like Lebo Mathosa and Jose Chameleon, as well as the hottest group in Nigeria, P-Square. Batman emerged the winner and this just shows how far he is moving into the international limelight. He got one of the loudest cheers of the night after he said he was from the 'Continent of Black Origin' (COBO).

Batman launched his second album, Samini (Rain God) in March, 2006. When he was being interviewed by Bola Ray of Joy FM's 'Drive Time', Bola was confident his album would go beyond the borders of Ghana. If you listen to the Samini CD, you would agree. Emmanuel Samini has reggae vibes, ragga tunes, hiplife songs and ballads (yes) on his sophomore effort. Who knows what genre of music he will touch next?

The biggest hit from Samini has been the title track, Samini (Rain God). It is a dancehall song done in English and Twi. African lady is also dancehall, mixed by DMJ. Music is a reggae tune talking about how music keeps him alive. Sexy and Sunshine can be grouped under rhythm and blues. Odo (love) is a track that starts as a ballad and becomes a raglife tune with an equally good video. Philomina, Obaa Besia, Fakye are all hiplife tunes. Quick Action engineered a lot of songs and is fast becoming the next big sound engineer in Ghana (S24).

One particular song I love is 'Repatriation'. Emmanuel encourages sojourners to return home and help build their countries. The song has Twi, Ewe, English and verses from a Northern language in Ghana. This follows the 'Lambure' (nkabom - unity) song he did in his 'Dankwansere' (bat) debut album. With this award under his belt, Batman is primed for bigger things. Credit to Zongo Junction, Samini is available on iTunes and Napster, which is important for his international success. Dankwansere, which had songs like Linda, Egwe, Di wo line mu, Emmaa, Kokromoti and Yebre is also available.

Batman is leading the charge for hiplife and soon, hiplife would stand in line to its big brother, hip hop. And you will remember the beginning. The vision is in progress.

NB: The 'Sounds on da ground and seens on the see-ins' blog would be done in its original home at GhanaConscious