Live and Direct: Sarkodie and the Compozers Welcome Ghana Independence Day with a Star-Studded Celebration

Reviews

Celebrating their homeland’s 66th year of independence from British colonialism, rap authority Sarkodie and in-demand live band The Compozers assembled a festival-worthy lineup of Ghanaian and Ghanaian-British talent for a pair of shows to remember on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 March. Attending on the latter evening – Independence Day itself – Richesse got the lowdown on the night’s star-studded occurrences.

Congregating in the basement of newly minted central London venue HERE at Outernet – a step up logistically from last year’s equivalent affair at Oval Space – the headliners nimbly weaved between instrumentals and full-fledged vocal performances from Obidi, with the Compozers adding their signature cocktail of drums, bass, keys and keytar to tracks ranging from timeless classics to Black Sherif’s bilingual drill. Adorned by a huge wall of LEDs featuring the nation’s colourful triband, they also visibly paid homage to their culture via their instruments, with Nana ‘Pokes’ Ntorinkansah’s bass guitar and Stephen ‘Drummerboy’ Asamoah-Duah’s kick drum both bearing the flag.

With punters often commuting directly from the office following a long shift, a Monday night crowd is inevitably harder to invigorate in any circumstances, but fans tonight came out in full force, greeting Sarkodie with a sea of phone lights as he introduced himself with material from 2021’s No Pressure. Easing in, he seemed to be conserving his energy and exercising a little restraint; perhaps re-calibrating following the previous night’s show, conscious of the gargantuan set ahead of him, or perhaps simply trusting of the loyal devotees at the front chanting every word of Twi and English alongside him. While well-received, it didn’t initially feel like a particularly commanding presence, although the reason for this would imminently become clearer.

Soon, special guest Juls stepped up to the decks, overseeing a flurry of fleeting appearances from celebrated Ghanaian artists including breakthrough star and “Sugarcane” singer Camidoh, UK funky ambassador Gracious K, and serial hitmaker Fuse ODG, who performed both his Sarkodie collaboration “Down on One” and the evergreen “Million Pound Girl”. The biggest surprise of all came in the form of an unpredictable PA from Nigerian sensation Lojay, who passed through following a London listening party for his new project Gangster Romantic to treat listeners to a sample of the new works as well as the amapiano-inspired mega-hit “Monalisa”. He may not have been representing the same country as his peers, but he certainly understood the assignment.

Hot on the heels of this playful intermission, Sarkodie returned to the stage with a spring in his step for the final segment of the night alongside the Compozers, completing his final lap with some of the best-known tracks in his repertoire including recent JAMZ single “Country Side” and the modern classic “Adonai”. Movingly, he paused proceedings to thank Capital Xtra’s DJ Abrantee, known for his decades-long commitment to pushing afrobeats in the UK, for first introducing him to the Compozers, before giving him a warm embrace. This rousing moment perfectly encapsulated the wider feeling of unity and community emanating from the audience throughout the evening; an Independence Day well spent, it seemed, for all.

Find Sarkodie on Twitter and Instagram, and The Compozers on Twitter and Instagram.

[Photo by the Le Sueurs, via publicist]

Editor of Richesse, Luke Ballance entered the world of music journalism unconventionally after a childhood passion for crowd-sourced information on music snowballed into a de facto role writing articles and managing UK artist relations at Genius. Expanding into more print and online titles in the following years including Clash, The Line of Best Fit, DMY, Gigwise and Link Up TV, the London-based writer has interviewed the likes of Madison Beer, Krept & Konan, Becky Hill, Bru-C and Nilüfer Yanya, and has penned copy for industry heavyweights including Deezer, Amazon Music and Universal. When he's not writing self-indulgent biographies in the third person, Luke can also be found writing freelance for other magazines, championing grime through his independent label Rosebank, or making rare appearances as a singer and guitarist.