This influential figure has been reincarnated and his soul lives in the musician Delasi. He sees the deplorable state of his beloved land Ghana, and desires to once again rule the country and place it on a visionary path. Unfortunately for him, his enemies are still alive and well, and have no desire to see him succeed. In short, his enemies once again plot against him, this time not to remove him from power, but to keep him from it entirely.
“Commot For Der” bravely alerts people to the failure of the Pan African Alliance that Ghana's most noted hero fought so hard to form. A valid question the production poses is: Why in this day and age does one require visas to travel between African countries? Surely that is something we should leave for the Europeans, Americans and others?
Speaking from his own personal experience, Delasi addresses some of the issues he has faced when traveling to other African countries. “It’s silly,” he says. “Why do we face so much restriction when we live in a continent that needs to work together? What would our African heroes of yesterday think if they saw the amount of red tape and barbwire involved in order to cross a border? People have been extremely unkind in the past and it surprises me. Restricting movement to other African countries places a strain on building networks, trading, sharing ideas, innovation and economic development. It’s frustrating to me hence why I created this song.
It is fair to say that Africans have been subjected to a lot of hardship especially from non-Africans. So we should learn from this, and do the exact opposite: We should respect each other and--even better--encourage each other. A good example to follow could be the recently agreed visa-free relationship between Mauritius and Ghana, leaving citizens to travel freely between the two countries. This should be the goal for all African states! Let Africans travel without wahala. Is that too much to ask?
The song is produced by Japanese producer Junknuts and visuals were directed by Festus, the Dutch-Kenyan half of the music collective Turtlevillains.
Watch to see whose soul leaves Delasi's body! Illustration from album inlay by Ghanaian artist Bright Ackwerh.