Rocky Dawuni Wakes The World

by rumnting | March 13, 2006 at 12:08 pm

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By Jeniffer Zimmerman on January 25, 2006

"I believe in this era the government is not in the hands of politicians, it’s in the hands of musicians.” - Rocky Dawuni

Rocky Dawuni’s conscious message is changing the dynamics of the reality in which we currently live, starting in Africa, just as everything always has. I initially heard of him through the reggae community; mutterings of “Africa’s Bob Marley”, a comparison that Dawuni says is a blessing.

The first time I listened to Book Of Changes (Dawuni’s fourth studio album released in 2005), I knew that this sound was the definitive reggae for the new millennium. Dawuni was nominated for “Best World Music Artist” by LA Weekly and given Ghana’s Cultural Ambassador Award by the US Embassy in 2005. His hit song, In Ghana, has become the unofficial national anthem of his homeland, where he plays to sold out audiences every Independence Day. He is both a visionary and seeker, and Music For America is honored to offer you this exclusive interview. Give Thanks and read on....

Jeniffer Zimmerman: Tell me about the role of music in your life.

Rocky Dawuni: Music for me is a divine tool. Whoever is given the opportunity to disseminate it has to wield it with a lot of reverence. As an artist who has been given that opportunity to use my art to communicate a vision…. I believe that vision is not for just one person, not [just] for my people in Ghana or my people in Africa, but for every person that I come into contact in the human family. That is my vision, my intention and aspiration, you know.

JZ: Can you tell me a bit about how you grew up and how you discovered that this is your path?

RD: I was born in this place called Michel Camp in a Military Barracks in Ghana, and the background was that most Ghanaian soldiers were involved in politics, so I grew up in an environment that was heavily charged with political talk and political thinking. At an early age I was attracted to the concept of music being [a means] for political change, so music, I felt, was a very natural path. Over the years it become more of a conviction, you know.

JZ: Growing up in Ghana as a youth, what kind of music were you exposed to?

RD: I was exposed to [everything] from Jamaican music, which was very popular, to popular music from America that always trickled in, everything from soul to Afro-beat, to Hi-Life (the traditional music of Ghana) and also really heavily tribal music. I’m from the Northern part of Ghana, so I was very influenced by the tribal music from the Northern part of Ghana. So I became a sponge for everything that was going around.

JZ: Was there ever a moment that you could pinpoint when you realized what your calling was?

RD: Actually, when I think back about it, I remember at a really early age, around the age of seven, it was a moment in my life I had what people would call a spiritual epiphany. I felt it was like a… a connection and a taste of the divine. I had this whole spiritual conviction that God wanted to use me as a medium and a tool. I can’t really talk about it publicly, but it was around the age of seven. I felt also a strong calling to really study and seek knowledge and counsel on different religions and spiritualities, and the path correlated with my musical path, too. It all converged and became one organic entity.
It wasn’t even a matter of choice, it was a matter of destiny.

JZ: Tell me a little about your club in LA.

RD: Afro Funke! (Laughter) When I really started hanging out in LA, as an African, I couldn’t find any really good African clubs, to go and check out African music. Secondly, the night club experience for me, I felt something lacking. I felt like a spiritual core missing. You know, you go there, you look at women, you get drunk, you pick up women, you know… .it was socializing but I felt like there could be [a place] where people could meet with a spiritual culture to that experience. So I thought if I can’t find it, maybe I have to create it. Because of that Afro Funke came up.

So Thursdays became a medium where I could play special shows and also bring every music that originated from Africa, which basically we are talking about music all over the world, and all it’s incarnations within the club environment, and mix it with spiritual visuals and visuals that pay homage to every religion and every culture. It started about two years ago and became a very big institution. For me, it’s a testament to our commonality, and I believe that we need to strengthen and stress the common grounds that we have, the common grounds that all humanity shares, because the differences are just varieties for us to really be interested in knowing other cultures, because whatever you have you don’t look for.

JZ: I read that Stevie Wonder shared the stage with you at Afro Funke. What was that like?

RD: It was really incredible. Me and him did a show together in Ghana, we were introduced by a mutual friend of ours who felt we always needed to meet. So when we met it was a really great time, and we played together in Ghana and we became really good friends. When I was doing my album release concert here, it was a great sold-out night, and he came out there and the vibe was real strong. He got up on stage with his harmonica and jammed with me and it was one of the most amazing nights I’ve had. And everyone there felt the very special moment.

JZ: What inspired the title song to your new release: Book Of Changes?

RD: Well, Book Of Changes, as the title suggests, is a sonnet testament, to try and really capture the changes that are going on before they happen. I believe changes happen within people, and then people manifest the changes in terms of their deeds and actions, and then reality gets changed. Being African, and having an unflinching belief that Africa is the source of the world, that when I started feeling the change in Africa, I believe that in the long run those changes, regardless of how subtle they are in Africa, they are going to impact a much more global scale.

A few years ago I started observing the political and social and spiritual landscape [of Ghana] undergoing changes, because there was all these wars in all these other [African] countries due to economic hardships, so all these people were running away and fleeing these wars and moving into Ghana. So within a short period of time, there was almost like a crucible of all these different parts of Africa, being brought back again in one place! I felt this was like a seeding ground for this new evolving philosophy that I believe will be a cornerstone for Africa’s renaissance.

When I felt that on a very deep level, I felt that Book Of Changes would be a sonnet interpretation of these changes before they happen.

JZ: Do you have a favorite song on the CD?

RD: Personally, Africa For Learn, to me, it’s a favorite because it deals with Africa’s border issues. Traveling from Ghana to Nigeria, which is a really short distance, you go through two French-speaking African countries, and every place you have to deal with border authorities and it’s the same continent, the same people! But then because of all these inherited colonial demarcations… and you know the colonialists have left! But you go to a French-speaking West African [country] and they act like they are France! So that song is a cry to all my brothers and sisters that we have to peel off that self-imposed slavery, and really try to jump into the brave new future with fresh new ideas and fresh new perspectives. The bottom line is that we have to start creating our own institutions based on our own convictions.

JZ: Can you explain the relationship between Africa and reggae?

RD: Africa has always been the spiritual home for reggae music, Africa has been the focus and destination of reggae music. Without Africa, there would be no reggae music, because reggae music was an interpretation of African music by children of Africa. The longing to be reunited with their home was the fuel that created that music that became the music for the liberation movements. In that sense, Africa is such a key part of reggae music and I believe that what I am doing right now is approaching reggae music, or should I say progressive sufferer music, from an African perspective! Because reggae came from a Caribbean perspective, looking into Africa, but when you read the scripture it says that there will be a time when Ethiopia will stretch forth its hands to God. And I believe that musicians have been given that divine responsibility to be instruments of change, and so I believe that statement, that Ethiopia will stretch forth its hands, meaning Africa, is that Africa has to bring forth this music of liberation and spirituality from the land, from Africa, beaming back into the Diaspora.

In terms of what I’m doing, in my time and my generation, I believe that is what I am doing right now, to bring that energy and that vision and that spirituality and that strength and that knowledge and wisdom to people.

JZ: So what is your opinion of popular music today?

RD: It serves it purpose. Music is a divine tool, so regardless if someone uses it to talk about “bling bling”, to some extent you have to answer for whatever you are using that tool for. There are so many facets of life, sometimes you have fun, sometimes you just want to chill without really thinking deep into everything, but I believe that since we are all spiritual beings, whatever we do in the long run has a certain spiritual connotation to it. My take on popular music is that it’s cool, it helps people deal with everyday life and brings a sort of numbness that sometimes people need. But I pray and hope that whatever we are doing also becomes the popular music. Because I don’t see what we are doing as any different from popular music, we have to figure out a way of bringing our music to the masses, because our music isn’t necessarily for only a few chosen, but it’s for the entire human race. So if we aspire to that we have to make righteous music popular music.

JZ: What do you dream for the future?

RD: For Africa, it’s unity. I have felt it and I have seen it, and I know that it’s just a matter of mobilization and organization. I believe that I’m part of a certain movement of artists who are seeped in the tradition of really believing that the continent should unite. I believe in this era the government is not in the hands of politicians, it’s in the hands of musicians. In terms of Africa, I believe that I will witness that unity within this lifetime.
So with that goal in mind, it is what I work and meditate and aim towards, because I can see it.

In terms of the world, I believe that Africa is the birthplace and incubation of humanity, so once Africa finds its balance, because if you look to the beginning you shall find the end, and if the beginning is strong, the end will always be strong, the world will always walk in disillusion and confusion if the source of it is in confusion. So until the world realizes the importance of a stable Africa, then we will still be in the wilderness searching for answers. So the answer that is relevant for Africa is relevant for the entire world, and that is why I believe my music and my message will be equally important in bringing unity and awareness to all peoples.

Visit Afro Funke at Zanzibar Every Thursday @ 5th and Arizona in Santa Monica! You might see Rocky hanging out, so make sure you give him some love from Music For America! Join Rocky Dawuni on Saturday, Feb 11th at The Temple Bar to celebrate Black History Month.