Colossium Magazine: How is
your album coming up?
Joojo Addison: It’s coming up
pretty well. It’s an EP actually;
which is about the beginning
of my music career. The first
song I ever recorded was
actually a gospel song titled ‘A
Billion Souls’; I was about 14
at that time. Music found me
I like to think. Back in school
I will find myself listening to
songs from Skillions which
inspired me in many ways.
So I formed a rap group called
‘Trotro Boys’ with my friends.
Back then we could only
record in school because the
rest of the group lived in Accra
and I, Kumasi. I remember
one time we had to use all we
had on us in school to record
a song and had to walk a long
distance back to school. Sitting
in front of my house master’s
shop on campus I reminisced
on what had transpired earlier
in the day…that was when I
had to make the decision on
future with music. I had to
decide whether to make music
a career or not and ultimately I
chose music.
CM: Which high school was
that?
JA: Opoku Ware, Kumasi.
CM: You mentioned earlier
that you have been learning;
what exactly have you been
learning?
JA: Basically, everything about
music. I’ve learnt to discover
myself and find my sound.
As a music artiste, I realized
that it’s important to know
45 | Colossium . March 2020
everything about the music
business – so yeah, I have been
studying a lot about music and
its related subjects.
CM: What’s about Skillions
that inspired you?
JA: Skillions? I loved their
style…I think their style was
unique and catchy.
CM: Which of them did you
like?
JA: All of them, I think. I really
don’t have a favorite amongst
them.
CM: Tell me about Guy Man.
JA: Guy Man… that was
my breakthrough track. I
have been experimenting
on different sounds until I
landed on the right sound
which I used on that song. But
I think the inspiration came
from impressions friends and
close associates had about
me and my career. I’ve had
people telling me I’ve been
underground for so long and
all that so basically the song
is to say that people cannot
determine my pace – Guy man
no go fit “guy” guy man…you
see what I mean? Sometimes
we’re pressured by friends and
family to pick paces we cannot
run with. It’s good sometimes
and other times cause us to
stumble and fall. Whilst they
pressure you to pick up such
paces, they often forget that
they have their own races to
focus on so the song addresses
such societal pressures we
receive as individuals.
CM: How well did Ghanaians
respond to your music?
JA: Pretty well I must admit.
Lots of DJs have been playing
my songs since my first single
came out. The love is deep.
I’m happy about how things
turned out. It’s a proof that
Ghanaians love good music.
I like to use this opportunity
to thank my fans – fans are
extremely important in show
business and so far, my fans
been nothing short of good to
me.
CM: Have you been doing
music all your life?
JA: No, I won’t say that but
I will say that I have had a
unique relationship with
music all my life. If you’ve
ever lived at North Kaneshie,
you will agree that it’s a place
literally surrounded by pubs
and bars so I found myself
consuming a lot of music;
growing up as a boy. My
father is also someone that
loves music and I like to think
that he has had some level of
influence on me.
CM: Would you say most
music artistes in recent times
have their own sound?
JA: I will like to assume that
most music artistes have their
own sound – unique or not.
However, the music market
also determines the sounds
artistes produce. Music artistes
in my opinion tend to produce
sounds the music market
demands. But for me, being
you as an artiste is all that
matters.
CM: Are music artistes today
doing Afrobeat like Fela did?