Stonebwoy has never treated a big show as just another night. Speaking to Heather Maxwell on VOA Africa’s Entertainment Report in March 2024, the Ghanaian dancehall star said quality concerts are at the centre of how he wants Ghana to be seen, and he explained why a sold-out night at home still means so much to him.
The interview, published on 16 March 2024, came a week after he performed in Washington, DC for Ghana’s Independence weekend and a month after his set at the Cali Vibes festival in California.
Stonebwoy on quality concerts that represent Ghana
On the 40,000-capacity show he sold out in 2023, his answer, as transcribed by NotJustOk, went straight to what that night meant and what it asks of him next:
“It’s a great feeling. It was a memorable day. It is a day that inspires a lot of us. I can never take that moment for granted. So I am always working towards giving quality concerts that can represent Ghana better.”
It is a line that fits his record. Stonebwoy, born Livingstone Etse Satekla, has spent years building his own events at home, and he has carried Ghanaian dancehall to stages in Europe and North America.
Ashaiman To Da World: a charity show for home
The clearest example is Ashaiman To Da World, the free concert he started for the community where he grew up. Citi Newsroom reported in 2018 that the event was then five years old and was created to give Ashaiman residents free entertainment. In the VOA interview he described why it keeps going:
“It’s a 10-year-old charity event that has been going on to change the narrative of the community where I am from and to grow their entertainment scene. It is also to throw light on a lot of good things going on in the community.”
The 2022 edition, the seventh after a two-year break during COVID-19, added a clean-up exercise, sports, an arts and culture exhibition and health screening alongside the music.
From Washington, DC to Cali Vibes
The VOA visit followed two American shows. On 9 March 2024 he performed at the first Rolling Cocoa Music Festival at The Anthem on Washington’s Southwest Waterfront, an Afrobeats-focused event timed for Ghana’s Independence weekend. Ghana became independent on 6 March 1957.
A few weeks earlier he played the Boomyard reggae and dancehall stage at Cali Vibes, held from 16 to 18 February 2024 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, on a bill that also included Kabaka Pyramid. Reports from the weekend said he reconnected with his Jamaican collaborators Chi Ching Ching and Sean Paul, who appeared on his album Epistles of Mama.
California has history for him. Stonebwoy won Best International Act: Africa at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles, a win that put Ghanaian dancehall on one of the biggest stages in Black music.
The 5th Dimension era
All of this came in the run of his fifth album, 5th Dimension, released in April 2023. The album includes “Manodzi” with Angélique Kidjo, which the two performed together at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2023 during Kidjo’s 40th anniversary concert.
Watch the full interview on VOA Africa’s Entertainment Report, and find his songs, albums and videos on Stonebwoy’s AfroYard profile, where you can press Follow to hear about his next release first.
