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Ludacris is one of the top-charting rappers of his era and has moved on to become a Hollywood star along the way. While the big screen is still a viable medium for the rapper born Christopher Bridges, music is still a centerpiece of his life as evidenced by Luda being spotted in the studio with popular Ghanaian rapper, Sarkodie.
Ludacris, 45, saw his name trending after being seen on video vibing with Sarkodie over some new tracks. At one point, it appeared that Luda found a moment of inspiration and grabbed his phone to jot down some bars.
In the clip, Ludacris is seen checking out Sarkodie’s track “Country Side” featuring Black Sherif, which has a million views for the video on YouTube.
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Sarkodie and Luda are no strangers to each other, this after the Ghanaian star rocked on Luda’s “How Low” track in 2012 during a live performance.
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It could be speculated that Luda was in Accra, Ghana to record a remix to “Country Side” and the track, as seen above, would be perfect for Luda and Sarkodie’s dextrous flows.
On Twitter, the excitement about a possible audio reunion between Ludacris and Sarkodie has the streets talking. We’ve got the best reactions to the clips below.
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Photo: Ollie Millington / Getty
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Vic Mensa went deep in depth about solidifying his spirit, and the beef he had with DJ Akademiks in the past, via a new interview.
The Chicago native sat down for a lengthy profile with Paper, in which he spoke heavily about his creative and personal journey to this point. Going back to Ghana, where his father’s family still resides, has been vital. “I’ve been able to build some pretty phenomenal things using that privilege and treat it as an opportunity to play that role to be the bridge between Black America and Africa,” Mensa said.
While the There’s A Lot Going On artist has been striving towards bettering himself on all fronts, he did touch upon a recent moment where a clip where he publicly called out media personality DJ Akademiks for exploitation of the Chicago drill scene and violence re-emerged. Mensa said it came from a personal connection.
“Because a kid that I grew up with and went to karate with when we were five years old ended up being a street n***a, gang banging, et cetera. He was also a very talented rapper. When he got killed, there was music involved, there were big drill artists involved, and I heard about it on Akademiks’ parasitic platform. So that’s why I was upset,” he said.
Mensa prefaced that by speaking at length about the differences between the emerging drill scene in Ghana and what already exists in Chicago. “Their music largely reflects their realities, which are not the same as American drill realities. Ghana is a very peaceful place. People don’t get killed like that. There’s a lot of struggle though, so their music is rooted in struggle,” he remarked.
The former Ye collaborator also spoke about his commitment to sobriety, which helped him confront various moments in his past and recalibrate his relationships. He also talked about how he’s come to accept being labeled a conscious rapper: “I can never be mad at the idea of being a conscious rapper. The truth is just that I’m a multifaceted person.”
Vic Mensa also spoke about his foray into punk music, and how he and Chance The Rapper linked up along with Erykah Badu and other artists to organize and perform at the Black Star Line Festival that took place in January.
—Photo: Momodu Mansaray / Getty
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Vic Mensa is not new to using his platform to help the less fortunate and does so once again for natives of his father’s homeland. The Chicago rapper is heading a major effort to bring drinking water to his ancestral village in Ghana by way of his nonprofit.
Vic Mensa, 29, shared in a statement from a story published by Billboard that his nonprofit, Let Them Drink Water, will bring clean drinking water to his family’s village and other surrounding areas.
“We’re building 3 Boreholes in different communities in Ghana to provide clean drinking water; the first being the Asokore Zongo in Koforidua where my family lives, which is already built. The other locations are a nearby community called Efiduase and then our ancestral village in the Volta Region Amedzope,” Mensa offered in that statement. “Most people in communities like this in Ghana experience constant water borne diseases.”
Mensa is gearing up to perform at the Black Star Line Festival, which takes place in Accra, Ghana on Jan. 6 and features fellow Chicago stars Chance The Rapper and Jeremih, along with T-Pain, Erykah Badu, M.anifiest, and more. Proceeds from the festival will go towards building the boreholes, which cost $15,000 each to build.
Salute to Vic Mensa for his efforts to bring clean water to Ghana, and best wishes to him and the rest of the performers.
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Photo: Jamie McCarthy / Getty
Unsigned and emerging artists in Africa will soon be able to compete for global distribution deals and record contracts with Sony Music Africa through a new collaboration between the major label and the companies behind the Afrochella Festival in Ghana.
Afrochella’s parent company, Culture Management Group, and media streaming service Audiomack, are teaming up with Sony Music Africa to expand the “Rising Star Stage” competition, which previously entitled winners to a chance to perform onstage at the festival.
With Sony’s involvement, up to 10 prize winners chosen from a short list of 25 will be signed to distribution deals with Sony Music Africa, which will take their music out to the world, Sony says in a press release.
The Grand Prize winner will secure an exclusive recording agreement with Sony Music Africa for the release of a single; marketing support (including a music video); free access to Afrochella’s recording studio as well as mentoring and training from industry executives and “leading musicians and producers,” Sony says. The top winner will also have the opportunity to perform live at Afrochella.
Five winners, including the Grand Prize winner, will also be able to perform on Afrochella’s Rising Star Stage alongside headliners on the festival’s second day, Dec. 29.
To enter the competition, artists need to upload an original song to Audiomack and create an Instagram Reel that includes an introduction about the artist, their approach to music and music-making process, and “what they want their potential audience to know about their style of music,” Sony says.
“With the strong backing of Sony Music, we now have the exciting opportunity to make an artist’s dreams come to life by providing them with a distribution deal and sustainable resources to help jumpstart their musical career,” Abdul Karim Abdullah, CEO and co-founder of Afrochella, says in a statement.
The “Rising Star Challenge” is now underway, and winners will be chosen during the two-day festival. The sixth edition of Afrochella, scheduled for Dec. 28 and 29 in Ghana’s capital Accra, features headliners Burna Boy, StoneBwoy and Fireboy DML.
Last month Coachella Music Festival sued the organizers of Afrochella, saying they infringed on Coachella’s trademarks and had allegedly tried to register the Coachella name in Ghana through the country’s intellectual property office, which was denied. Goldenvoice owns the trademark for both Coachella and the word Chella, preventing it from being added to other event titles in a way that could confuse fans.
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