Afropop Worldwide

We at Afropop know very little about football (just enough to call it football, instead of the USA term 'soccer'). We frankly have no idea why Ghana's Black Stars are going to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 despite just losing to Egypt (that's why we write about music and essentially nothing else). We are not picking favorites here: we love Egypt (check out all these awesome shows we've made about the past and present Egyptian music scene), and we also love Ghana (see our awesome Hip-Deep Ghana 1, and 2 shows). But, somehow, today, Ghana wins. So here's five musical reasons why Ghana is going to the World Cup: 1) Asamoah Gyan, AKA 'Baby Jet,' one of the Black Stars' best strikers (apparently) is also a hip-life singer! How could Ghana not win, with a musical boss like Baby Jet? Here's his latest, with Castro: http://youtu.be/xjsyBb_xAUQ 2) To gear up for a game, the Black Stars play and sing some neo-traditional jama music (related to the Ga kpanlogo music). No wonder they kick butt on the field! http://youtu.be/gVLr3AM4LYs 3) Apparently, when the Black Stars score a goal, they celebrate by dancing Azonto (or is it called Alkayida now?) http://youtu.be/B96iFkE4GPI 4) According to this video, The Black Stars make new players do a 'dance initiation': http://youtu.be/BAqcApzbsqQ And at least a few players know how to get down to some neo-traditional Ewe borborbor music: http://youtu.be/yDoHInR3TeE 5) The Black Stars inspire local and foreign musicians to make some seriously dope music in support, including these 'Power Songs,' using jama rhythms: http://youtu.be/LhzG_0SOpc0 http://youtu.be/H5jobAkLR0g And, last but not least, this track, "Football Jama" from English producer Richy Pitch featuring Ghanaian rappers Sway and Mensa: [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/3428428" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] Well, we're still clueless about football, but we know that the Black Stars get down on some tunes.  We wish them the best, and hope they'll have a blast in Brazil!