Sick, hospitals, doctors, nurses and patients. All the reasons why he was given the name Medikal. Medikal, born and raised in Accra, Ghana is an upcoming Ghanaian hip-hop artist. Since his beginning starting in 2008, he, along with Sarkodie, has been named one of the highest nominated Ghanaian hip-hop artists for the Ghana Music Awards and has had a major impact on the hip-hop community in Ghana. 2017 was the year Medikal released a video for his first single on his album Disturbation going by the name of Poof Gang. This song speaks on many things, especially highlighting himself and his posse. The visual to this song has a setting of a dilapidated warehouse with many crates and broken objects. Surrounding Medikal are his friends or from what I assume, the other members of Poof Gang who accompany him in spitting the lyrics to his single.
The attire of Medikal and his gang seems to be inspired by the style of what a typical African American young man would wear in an urban area. This to me shows the aspects of American hip-hop that we can see heavily incorporated in African hip-hop. On the other side, he speaks in his native tongue and in pidgin which still shows that he is true to himself and his culture. In terms of the lyrics, it seems as if they are geared towardshimself, self-glorifying, something you see in a lot of rap in this generation.
“Yes am a mother f***ing idol”
However, in one line in his first verse, Medikal speaks about what he thinks his purpose as an artist is.
“I only fight for rights and put am on beats”
Though I am not entirely familiar with Medikal as an artist, that simple line gave me much insight on what he represents regarding himself, the people around him, and his country. All of the things noticed show how American hip-hop culture has a major effect on African hip-hop culture through clothing, lyrics and representation.