.. Africa as well ? ADN : That I ’ m not certain of especially with all the travel protocols going on these days . If things ease up a bit ADN it ’ s not too late to launch there , I ’ m sure we will consider it . CSM : Any collaboration from that side on the album ? ADN : Yeah , we had some guys from there do some acapella for one of the songs . You know South Africans are great with acapellas . I did a project with them on a UN project so when we needed some people to do an acapella for us , they came to mind and the magic happened . CSM : What was your mom ’ s reaction to you attributing a song to your father and not her ? ADN : She didn ’ t mind at all in fact she also got featured on the album . She did the intro and helped with a lot of the Fantse ( Fante ) spoken throughout the album . She was excited when she saw her name in the track list – we had to acknowledge her for her contribution . CSM : You have just one feature on the album and it ’ s with KiDi , why is that so ? ADN : Well , we reached out to a couple of artistes but couldn ’ t get things done due to bad timing . I ’ d like to think this is how things were supposed to go though and working with KiDi is something I have always enjoyed . Coincidentally I happen to be the only artiste on his project too . KiDi is great talent and we seem to naturally jell perfectly . CSM : Why did you choose to title this album ‘ ARABA ’? ADN : Araba is my fante name and the album is a tribute to my fante heritage . But we also chose Araba because the album touches on various aspects of my personal life . CSM : How is it working with Richie Mensah ? ADN : Richie and I actually go way back . We have been friends for such a long time ; we have worked a lot together in the past and so when it came to who was going to work on this album he was the first person to come to mind . What we didn ’ t want to do is ask producers to send in their beats and all that because we didn ’ t want
it out there that I ’ m working on an album till it ’ s all set up – mind you we were also under lockdown at the time . Working with Richie is like a class session every time because I learn something from him every time . He ’ s open to ideas and contributions . He will also be the first person to correct you on anything – he ’ s an amazing person . CSM : So you friendzoned the producers you ’ ve worked with in the past for this album , then … ADN : Hahaha … no no no I won ’ t put it that way . We actually had DJ Vyrusky on it as a producer in fact . The timing didn ’ t offer us that opportunity and luxury to work with other producers however ; I feel Richie was the one destined to work on this and it happened . CSM : You didn ’ t win any award at the VGMAs although you were nominated , how did you feel about that ? ADN : I was proud of the winners . To be nominated alone is a win for me but now I want something more like Most Popular Song and Artiste of the Year . The agenda is different now . CSM : It ’ s been amazing talking to you , Adina Thembi . ADN : Same here . It ’ s always great to be on Colossium Magazine .
Out on all digital stream platforms on October 30 , 2020
31 | Colossium . October 2020