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(via Worlasi)

Accra rapper Worlasi‘s “One Life” is a calm, introverted, and beautiful 7-minute track that’s part rap and part hymn. Six Strings’ acoustic guitar plucks to a train-like drum, shuffling along as the Ghana rapper looks at the world moving around him and wondering out loud what it all means in a melodic, auto-tuned voice similar to Kanye West’s own moody lament, 808s & Heartbreak.

From Beehype: “‘One Life’ is probably the most extraordinary and multifaceted video to have emerged out of Ghanian music scene this year yet…what stands out most are Worlasi’s melancholic, auto-tuned, and multi-layered verses contrasted with the heartening part of Sena Dagadu. She literally pops up in the fifth minute of the video (directed by Abstrakte Films), and she changes the mood entirely.”

“You only got one life to live / If you happen to have a good one, be grateful”

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(via FOKN Bois)

Emmanuel Owusu Bonsu (Wanlov the Kubolor) and Mensa Ansah (M3NSA) are FOKN Bois, a Ghanaian hip-hop duo now based in Budapest, Hungary, that specializes in socially conscious and satirical raps about Ghanaian and international African culture. One of Ghana’s more internationally well-known groups, FOKN Bois has performed at Glastonbury and has shared the stage with Snoop Dogg, Femi Kuti, The Gorillaz and more.

You can compare them to other hip-hop duos such as Outkast, Flight of the Concords, and Run The Jewels, but Bonsu and Ansah insist that these comparisons are misguided. Instead, the music is self-described “Gospel Porn,” as if the music is some form of enlightened debauchery through sensual hymns and rhythms.

The duo just released its third album, FOKN Ode to Ghana, which is a remix of Hobo Truffles’ instrumental hip-hop album, Ode To Ghana. The original Hobo Truffles album mostly samples older Highlife music, the Ghanaian jazz-dance style that reached its peak across West Africa between the ’50s and ’70s. Highlife is recently seeing a retro-induced comeback among young artists, including Wanlov and M3NSA, who both rap over the original dancehall beats with 2016 storytelling.

The album was made with help from Yoyo Tinz, a Ghanaian hip-hop collective documenting and promoting the country’s growing scene.