M.anifest, born out of Accra, Ghana is internationally known for his approach to hip hop music. Throughout his music, M.anifest crossed his traditional upbringing and westernized culture to create a new type of sound that impressivly played on words, while bringing orginality and lyricism to the continent of Africa, and beyond. Because M.anifest was so creative and attained a distinct niche for songwriting, it earned him collaborations with big names in the music industry such as, Tony Allen, Erykah Badu, and Femi Kuti, just to name a few. Collaborations with such influential artist, demonstrates how talented M.anifest truly is.
“his unapologetically modern African musical identity quickly brought a notoriety across Africa.” – author unknown
After spending most of his professional musical career in in Minnesota, M.anifest finally returned to Ghana, where he, in less than 2 years won the best rapper and best hip hop song at the 2013 Ghana music awards. During his years as an artist, M.anifest has released four solo efforts: Apae the Prince of Free EP(2013), Immigrant Chronicles(2011), The Birds and the Beats(2009), and Manifestations(2007).
Unlike many artist today, M.anifest is unapologetically himself no matter societal pressures to create music that only provides entertainment to the audience without developing a strong message to the community. M.anifest understands the importance of being a voice for younger generations who do not have the ability to vocalize their concerns and or feelings to the wider community.
One of my favorite songs that M.anifest has constructed, definitely has to be “Suffer”. In this particular song, M.anifest raps about the struggles and the reality of life for many people in both his native tongue and in English. M.anifest brings to the realization that those of us who do not suffer, are lucky because there are a lot of innocent people who are suffering today, and because of that, these innocent people don’t even know where their next meal is coming from.
Links: