NEW MUSIC: M.ANIFEST

ASBO Magazine welcomes Ghanaian rapper, Hip Hop artist and record producer, Kwame Tsikata, also known as M.anifest from Accra, Ghana, but has also lived in the United States, where his Hip Hop career began. The Ghanaian artist also tends to visit the United Kingdom, where he performs at many exciting festivals and concerts. His most recent performance was on the 21st May in London, an event that brought together fans from all over the world. Kwame, yet again, released another astonishing album called ‘NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES’. The album features songs like ‘FTYD’ featuring A-Reece, it has a very groovy, contemporary Hip Hop beat to it.

I had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the master himself for an interview with ASBO magazine where I got to know him and talk about his successful and exciting career. I was curious to know how he had come up with the name that the world knows him by, ‘M.anifest’.

‘’It was actually an accident, I stumbled upon that name whilst writing a song, in the early days I was struggling to find a name and I was writing a verse, the word manifest came up and I was like yo, this kinda embodies what I’m trying to do’’. As well as learning about the birth of his stage name, he shared with me where it all began. Growing up, Kwame was inspired by the music he was surrounded by, and his grandfather, who was actually a composer and a music academic himself. Kwame spoke very fondly of his grandfather saying “I was observant with how obsessed he was with his music from morning till night, it was sort of his life’s purpose and that was my first point of inspiration. ‘’When I think of more popular music I’d definitely say I loved the Fugees, I loved every single Outcast song, they had such a profound impact on me’’.

Upon getting to know him more, it was clear that Kwame had some favourite genres including Highlife and jazz, but one particular genre stood out, ‘’I love the 70’s as a whole, I think it’s the greatest era of music’’ stated M.anifest very enthusiastically. The musician talks about how he’s also ‘’fueled’’ by South African house and ‘’easily incorporates’’ Highlife into his music. Just by listening to his music, it is very evident that M.anifest loves his culture and keeps it alive.

After getting to know the Ghanaian musician, it was clear to me that intention and inspiration are a great part of what he does, whether it is a solo piece, or a collaboration, M.anifest is always able to orchestrate his music in a way that keeps listeners engaged. It’s not always just about the sound, but the meaning behind the song and the power that his voice holds. His “low frequency” voice, as he said himself fits very well with his Hip Hop & Afrobeats style. “It’s about the intention and what I want people to get from it, a lot of the music I love inspires me, anything I talk about I want it to inspire them to be the best version of themselves” states Kwame as he shared with me his insight on his music.

Going deeper into his music career, I was able to learn a bit about his creative process and self perception as an artist. He explained how he doesn’t fit into a certain category or stays in one place in the musical landscape. This is a particular aspect of his musical career that perhaps makes M.anifest standout, he is able to move fluidly creating different masterpieces, whether it is a song with more bass or something that is able to flow smoothly through your speakers with impressive freestyle lyrics. ‘’I come from a lineage of artists who are very fluid in between worlds”. “I’m for the kid that loves Hip Hop but also some random house music from some corner of the world” said Kwame.

It is always intriguing to know how an artist works in the studio and how they’ve put things together to make an album spark to life. When I asked M.anifest about his most recent project, his new album, ‘NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES’ he told me ‘’This recent project was more of building everything from scratch, going to the studio with my producer and just coming up with ideas from scratch”. As M.anifest mentioned earlier, he likes to be quite fluid with his work, saying “I move in between writing to not writing, sometimes I have three or four ideas, sometimes it’s just one” “I’ll be locked in with my producer from 10am till 6pm’’. Stress is definitely not part of Kwame’s creative process, when creating a project it has to something he enjoys, “I’m currently in my effortless stage, I don’t want it to be forced otherwise the vibes won’t be a ten or eleven, if i’m writing and it feels like I’m forcing it, I’ll stop and move onto the next idea’’. Said M.anifest.

Nearing the end of our interview, the musician enlightened me on some of his resolutions for this year, including what he would like to achieve with his music. He explained how he would like his recent album to blow up with billions of views, he shared his reasons, stating, “when you crack the last barrier, it inspires a whole bunch of kids to be like you as possible”. He spoke about how he believes this can be achieved by letting his new project “crack’’ a commercial barrier, saying ‘’That success will mean a lot to me and the legion of people coming after me.”

Once again, M.anifest has impressed the globe with flavorful beats, he continues to inspire young artists to create and be different.