On My Way To Accra

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving Tamale to head down to Accra. I will be taking the day long bus trip, which – God willing – will reach Accra in the evening. The purpose of this trip is to attend the Jay-Z concert. Yeah, the Jay-Z from Brooklyn, Def Jam President, ten years of putting out albums. His appearance in Accra is part of a world tour that includes:

Sept. 9: Krakow, Poland (Coca-Cola SW Live Festival)
Sept. 10: Bratislava, Slovakia (Incheba)
Sept. 15: Amsterdam (Heineken Music Hall)
Sept. 16: Germany (TBA)
Sept. 18: Istanbul (Refresh the Venue)
Sept. 19: Athens (Olympic Arena)
Sept. 21: Manchester, England (Evening News Arena)
Sept. 22: Glasgow (SECC)
Sept. 23: Birmingham, England (National Indoor Arena)
Sept. 24: London (Wembley Arena)
Sept. 26: Dublin (the Point)
Sept. 27: London (Royal Albert Hall)
Sept. 29: Paris (Le Zenith)
Sept. 30: Milan (Fiera di Milano)
Oct. 2: Barcelona (Teatro Heineken)
Oct. 4: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Diamond Jubilee)
Oct. 6: Accra, Ghana (Accra Conference Center)
Oct. 7: Lagos, Nigeria (Ocean View)
Oct. 9: Luanda, Angola (Cine Karl Max)
Oct. 11: Cape Town, South Africa (Belleville Velodrome)
Oct. 13: Durban, South Africa (ABSA Stadium Outer Fields)
Oct. 14: Johannesburg (Coca Cola Dome)
Oct. 17: Hong Kong (TBA)
Oct. 18: Bangkok, Thailand (BEC Tero Hall)
Oct. 20: Seoul, Korea (Walker Hill Gayagum Concert Hall)
Oct. 21: Taipei, Taiwan (Taipei Dome)
Oct. 23: Singapore, Singapore (Suntec City Concert Hall)
Oct. 25: Sydney (Entertainment Centre)
Oct. 27: Brisbane, Australia (Entertainment Centre)
Oct. 28: Melbourne (Rod Laver Arena)

The expressed purpose of the tour is to raise awareness of the world’s water crisis.

It was reported on the Billboard Magazine web site that he said: "In the beginning, when I was going out on a world tour, I was going out to play music," the Def Jam president said earlier this month. "But I said to myself, I can't go to these places I've been and not go out and see the people that have been touched by my music for over 10 years. From that morphed, 'Well, I'm not just going to go over there and rap to them.' I'm going to help and see what I can do in these areas."

So far, the awareness that has been raised is that Beyonce will be joining him on stage and that the other promised ‘Def Jam All-Stars’ may include Nas on some of the dates…Nas and Jay-Z on stage in Ghana…we will see, that would be a memory though! I do hope we here more about the water issue when he gets here though. I will be going to the show with Adowa and Idressa (both fellow Canadians in Ghana).

Today, I woke up to pouring rain and it was so beautiful. The house was a little bit dim, and as I bathed with a bucket of boiled water, I listened to the roar and hiss outside. When Layata and I got to work, I sat in on a meeting with a potential client that will be putting Radio Justice online! It will take awhile if it happens though. After the meeting many of the station staff gathered in Razak’s office to watch Ghana’s Black Stars defeat Japan in Japan 1-0. It was a nice match to watch, and I was grateful that our side of town had the lights on (though the side with the station that was supposed to broadcast the match was shut down because of the power outage).

I am excited about my trip to Accra because of a few reasons in addition to the concert. I miss the Ackerson’s and it will be great to see them. I also plan to meet some friends and family of Nana (we went to York together and we always stay in touch). Visiting Kwaku’s church is a priority after meeting his Pastor (who is a really cool man that my spirit just took to), and it is Idressa’s birthday on the 8^th (so we will be celebrating). On the way back, I will be visiting Nuri-Haque, which should be cool. I finished a poem that I had started, but had left until he reminded me about it, so he really wants to see it. I will post it soon.

I also have a very nice camera to use courtesy of Masumi who has two. It’s pink, but I don’t mind. Expect some pics with the posts in the near future. Oh yeah, and I can check out Rhema TV in Accra. In addition to all of that, I should be doing an interview with this Liberian refugee emcee named Scientifik, though his people are kind of unorganized so we will see if it happens.