Surprise, they say come unknown slowly in pieces, but this may not be the case of Mensa as he is about to deliver a complement of his amazing creative works in some few weeks to come; and when that happens, Ghana?s music for that Africa?s and the world?s would be the beneficiaries.
Yaw Mensa, a.k.a Mensa or Shine, a good friend and "partner-in-crime" of Reggie Rockstone, is perhaps not known by majority of music lovers in Ghana just because his activities have been buried "underground". This notwithstanding, ardent fans of his musical talents and works would give a good account of him in song writing, beats making, producing and unique rap delivery.
Currently based in London, Mensa left Ghana to actively involve himself in music after his Hip-Life/Hip-Hop Rapublic Album under the famous DKB Productions and OM Music.
His first major appearance on an album was Reggie Rockstone?s "Me Ka" album, which saw his lyrical dexterity on tracks like "Mensesa" and "The Mapouka Dance" in 2002.
Later, Obrafuo another admirer of his lyrical skills, brought him to spice up his "Asem Sebe" album in which he firmed his love for being an African on "Obibini".
Another rap group, 2 Cedis, featured him on one of their classics, "How Many Bucks", which was an underground single. VIP has also featured him on their second and third albums much to their satisfaction, after planning to work with him for a long time.
In 2002, Mensa released his maiden Pan-African Hip-Hop/Hip-Life album, "Rapublic", which caught many music lovers spellbound bud did not make any great impact in Ghana. This was mainly due to payola, which he refused to pay. However, many copies were sold outside Ghana.
The album had tracks like "Tea Bread", which he did in Fante, "If You Don?t Know" featuring VIP "What?s My Name", "Pay Day" and etc, combining English with Twi making it very entertaining to listen to.
Mensa then went behind the scene for sometime selling beats in the UK and producing records for many artistes. But, he returned to Ghana to co-produce Reggie Rockstone?s album, "The Last Show". He was also featured on some of the album?s tracks including Reggie?s tribute song for his father and soley produced ''Ah'' which Reggie did with K.K Fosu.
Mensa has also done a lot of opening shows for major Hip-Hop artistes worldwide even without coming out with any complete album. He is significantly mentioned in UK?S Hip-Hop and Germany after scoring befitting scores for his talent. Owing to this, he is currently preparing to release his first official album as he puts it in some few week to come.
The upcoming album promises to be a blast as many media houses in England are awaiting its release. He told the writer personally about the album and how he wanted to represent Ghana and Africa on the World Music Map by providing good and inspiring music to all especially the lay man on the streets.
This he believes would make music lovers rise up from their slumber in search of what their God-given missions are on this earth.
He went on to say that he wanted his message to be clear and even if sometimes metaphorical, one could understand without thinking too much.
Perhaps, that is the reason why exclusive tracks I listened to which would be on the album exhibited his true African-sense and amazing creative talent infusing almost all music genres into the album too make it very "tight". Ghana and everyone, be all ears for Mensa?s lessons.
Click here to view Mensa's "If You Don't Know" Video.
Surprise, they say come unknown slowly in pieces, but this may not be the case of Mensa as he is about to deliver a complement of his amazing creative works in some few weeks to come; and when that happens, Ghana?s music for that Africa?s and the world?s would be the beneficiaries.
Yaw Mensa, a.k.a Mensa or Shine, a good friend and "partner-in-crime" of Reggie Rockstone, is perhaps not known by majority of music lovers in Ghana just because his activities have been buried "underground". This notwithstanding, ardent fans of his musical talents and works would give a good account of him in song writing, beats making, producing and unique rap delivery.
Currently based in London, Mensa left Ghana to actively involve himself in music after his Hip-Life/Hip-Hop Rapublic Album under the famous DKB Productions and OM Music.
His first major appearance on an album was Reggie Rockstone?s "Me Ka" album, which saw his lyrical dexterity on tracks like "Mensesa" and "The Mapouka Dance" in 2002.
Later, Obrafuo another admirer of his lyrical skills, brought him to spice up his "Asem Sebe" album in which he firmed his love for being an African on "Obibini".
Another rap group, 2 Cedis, featured him on one of their classics, "How Many Bucks", which was an underground single. VIP has also featured him on their second and third albums much to their satisfaction, after planning to work with him for a long time.
In 2002, Mensa released his maiden Pan-African Hip-Hop/Hip-Life album, "Rapublic", which caught many music lovers spellbound bud did not make any great impact in Ghana. This was mainly due to payola, which he refused to pay. However, many copies were sold outside Ghana.
The album had tracks like "Tea Bread", which he did in Fante, "If You Don?t Know" featuring VIP "What?s My Name", "Pay Day" and etc, combining English with Twi making it very entertaining to listen to.
Mensa then went behind the scene for sometime selling beats in the UK and producing records for many artistes. But, he returned to Ghana to co-produce Reggie Rockstone?s album, "The Last Show". He was also featured on some of the album?s tracks including Reggie?s tribute song for his father and soley produced ''Ah'' which Reggie did with K.K Fosu.
Mensa has also done a lot of opening shows for major Hip-Hop artistes worldwide even without coming out with any complete album. He is significantly mentioned in UK?S Hip-Hop and Germany after scoring befitting scores for his talent. Owing to this, he is currently preparing to release his first official album as he puts it in some few week to come.
The upcoming album promises to be a blast as many media houses in England are awaiting its release. He told the writer personally about the album and how he wanted to represent Ghana and Africa on the World Music Map by providing good and inspiring music to all especially the lay man on the streets.
This he believes would make music lovers rise up from their slumber in search of what their God-given missions are on this earth.
He went on to say that he wanted his message to be clear and even if sometimes metaphorical, one could understand without thinking too much.
Perhaps, that is the reason why exclusive tracks I listened to which would be on the album exhibited his true African-sense and amazing creative talent infusing almost all music genres into the album too make it very "tight". Ghana and everyone, be all ears for Mensa?s lessons.
Click here to view Mensa's "If You Don't Know" Video.
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