“dey no dey care about light off, dey get dema generators…dey no dey care if the road roff, dey get dema land cruisers…dey no dey care about traffic, dey get dema police escorts…dey no dey care about justice, dey get dema police and courts”
These are candid feelings expressed by the “Afro-gypsy” Emmanuel Owusu Bonsu popularly known as Wanlov da Kubolor in a video released on video sharing website Youtube on May 19, 2015.
The lyrics of the song are as strong as the black and white slow-motioned video conveying the message. It captures a man walking from afar towards the camera and when he gets closer, he is a mentally ill person.
Shot by Wanlov da Kubolor himself, he attaches the message “…if the video makes no sense to you it is because dumsor, pollution, poverty & corruption in Ghana make no sense to me…”
The song is one of the deeply worded songs ever produced in the country against corruption, poverty and injustices perpetrated by leadership. It comes three days after the heavily attended #DumsorMustStop vigil led by actress Yvonne Nelson and backed by many Ghanaian celebrities including Wanlov himself against erratic power supply attributed to mismanagement.
Sarkodie’s The Masses also addressed similar issues, but Wanlov’s ‘Never Go Change’ gave a supposedly figurative but gory solution in Verse 3.
“so we for kill dem all chale, we for kill dem all…cut off dema heads and spill dema blood on the wall…we for kill dem all chale, we for kill dem all…cut off dema heads, and spill dema blood on the walls.”
The revolutionary song ended with a question: “dey never go change oh, like u u go change?”
Watch Wanlov da Kubolor’s ‘Never Go Change’ below.