A few years ago, there was a stage where it felt like every Ghanaian boy I knew in Australia was rapping. I thought it was a phase they would all grow out of, and most did. However, there was one boy who turned his rapping into a spiritual journey and now all grown up, he has become an award winning gospel rapper and songwriter. His name is Rodney Ahenkan, aka. D.I.S.C.I.P.L.E.
He started writing poetry when he was 15 and turned them into rap songs backed up with beats. Using music as his vent about his personal experience and a window into his spiritual journey.
For his latest album, In their Shoes he has taken people who have inspire him from the Bible, analysed their stories and transformed them into lyrical narratives with a contemporary urban twist referencing the world today. I have heard some of Rodney’s stuff over the years and I think In their Shoes is his musical ‘growth spurt’.
Last week I went to the launch of In their Shoes and I was blown away by his lyrics, composition, stage presence, his band….. basically the whole package. What really got me was the composition. I wasn’t listening to great poetry slapped onto beats, but I was listening to poetry turned to rhymes married to great beats having an affair with effects. Weird analogy right? But that’s how I thought of it in that moment.
You can preview and purchase In their Shoes on iTunes.
