Prolific Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie joins LootLove via FaceTime on Apple Music 1 to talk about his latest track, “Non Living Thing (feat. Oxlade).” He also discusses his new album, No Pressure, working with artists like Cassper Nyovest and US rapper Vic Mensa, how he promotes Ghanaian artists in London and abroad, and what excites him about the next generation of African talent.
Sarkodie on why the album title is ‘No Pressure’
Yes, exactly what the title says, ‘No Pressure.’ Literally, no pressure. I've been doing this, as you said over 10 years. And it's very difficult, especially for a rapper in Africa, to be able to keep it for that long. So I think I've gained a right to be able to believe and trust myself and trust the process and the pace that I go, because I feel like a lot of people rush to impress so quick that you put out everything that you got and now you have nothing left to show the people.
Sarkodie on emerging sounds in Ghana like Asakaa Drill
Ghana is in a right space now. Every generation takes it to the next level. So these new guys are going to do way bigger than what everybody has done, and that's what's going to happen generation after generation because they're looking at what we did and looking at the flaws and they're going to better it, especially for the Kumerica movement. That's a representation of Ghanaian hip hop at this point and people love it. People in the UK vibe to it. I've been here a few occasions and when they played the Kumerica sound, you can see how people really love it.
Sarkodie on how Oxlade manifested collaborating with him on “Non Living Thing”
The spiritual thing about the song is Oxlade apparently had recorded a song for me even before meeting me as Sarkodie. So him as a young artist wrote the song, thinking this song is for Sarkodie. Yeah. So long ago, apparently he was like in a DM trying to hit me up about, "Bro, I have a song. I have a song." So now, when we met it's like, this is a song that I wrote for you. So it was very, very… It's a moment for me, very spiritual.
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