#Mantse Aryeequaye

[bongoideas]

Mantse AryeeQuaye tells Drake to ignore Obrafour as he claims ownership over 'Killer Cut' sample

Mantse AryeeQuaye has asked Drake to ignore the lawsuit brought against him by rapper Obrafour. He has stated that the part of the song that Drake used without seeking permission belongs to him and thus should be the one to be compensated. Ranting on Twitter following the $10 million suit Obrafour slapped Drake with, Mantse has demanded his fair share of the rights to the music and the intended…

[kayjnrblog]

Turn or events on the sampling case of Obrafour and Drake

JUST In : Mantse Aryeequaye, the voice behind the sampled ‘KILLER CUT’ on Drake’s Calling My Name which Obrafour is suing him for, has declared that Obrafour has no right to make any claim or sole compensation without his permission. This is how the events are unfolding

[brownghdotcom]

After suing us, who will support you in your next Chale Wote - Kubolor to Mantse Aryeequaye

After suing us, who will support you in your next Chale Wote – Kubolor to Mantse Aryeequaye

Controversial Ghanaian musician Wanlov Kubolor has replied CEO of Chale Wote, Mantse Aryeequaye after the latter released a statement denying allegations of abuse against his ex-girlfriend.

According to Mantse, he has not abused or held anyone hostage, and he is prepared to face the consequences if he is found guilty

He noted that he has reported the matter to the Police and he has also…

[netbuzzafrica]

Ex Co-Director of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival fingers Mantse for abuse

Ex Co-Director of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival fingers Mantse for abuse

Jamestown’s Chale Wote Street Art Festival has gained attention on the continent as West Africa’s largest annual street art festival. For the past 8 years, it has grown from a small event to a global platform attracting an audience of about 50,000 people.

The alternative platform that brings art, music, dance and performance out into the streets was founded by Mantse Aryeequaye with the help of…

[kumasionlinegh]

Court orders Wanlov to pay ¢55k to Chalewote’s Mantse in defamation suit

Court orders Wanlov to pay ¢55k to Chalewote’s Mantse in defamation suit

Emmanuel Owusu-Bonsu, popularly known as Wanlov has been ordered by a court to pay ¢55,000 to the co-founder of Chalewote Street Art Festival, Mantse Aryeequaye. This was after Mr. Aryeequaye won a defamation case against Wanlov. In 2019, Wanlov had made an allegation that the plaintiff is a ‘sex predator’ and an abuser of women. “Mantse Melvin Nii Aryeequaye of AccraDotAlt, Sabolai Radio…

[jokuuire]

The Country Formerly Known As Ghana Exhibition at ChaleWote 2017 by myself and Mantse Aryeequaye Featuring the Winneba Masquerade - Photography, Video art, Performance and Signage

[accradotalt]

In honour of the memory of resistance movements on the African continent and throughout the Black Diaspora, we are hosting @efo_sela's HUNTER HUNTED exhibition from February 21st to March 21st 2017. The exhibiton will also feature a conversation with Efo Sela about these new creations exploring historical memory, imagination and the fight/flight to spaces that offer more freedom. Efo Sela's art overthrows the convoluted foundations of ''white supremacy'' itself! Sela draws boundless inspiration from traditional African symbolism and influential artists (like Bruce Onobrakpeya, El Anatsui, Moyo Okediji, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ablade Glover etc) Sela renders his highly cryptic and distorted figures like a ''Post-Modernist Zaria Rebel''. His ''New Sacred Art'' highlights varying degrees of esoteric knowledge, deep aspects of Vodu philosophy, sacred Vodu aesthetics and indigenous religious iconography. In a series of ''chilling'' abstract paintings and sculpture works, Sela visually explores the recurring issues that still plague Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora in our current neo-colonial era. Sela renders this profound imagery like a psychologically and emotionally traumatized young child haunted by the nightmarish horrors of constantly seeing the bodies of black men and women littered in the streets through all manner of despicable social injustice. The Hunter Huntered exhibition shuffles through African history to re-examine and highlight several critical issues as a visual narrative. Efo Sela is based in Accra with a professional art practice that draws from an amalgam of African symbolism and philosophy. Sela is also a Visual Anthropologist, writer, researcher of African art & Ewe Religion. Sela's work is heavily inflenced by Võdũ aesthetics, natural patterns of nature and Uli designs .His works covers broad themes such as class struggle, colonialism, spirituality and religion. HUNTER HUNTED was curated by Mantse Aryeequaye

[kwameboafo]

I had a brief but interesting conversation with Dr. Sionne Neely, co-creator of @accradotaltradio producers of @chalewoteofficial after my performance #Daze. She missed the Saturday performance #waterwoman and so promised herself to be present for #Daze She told me how enthralling and emotional the performance was. She was particular about the level of energy I exert during my performances. I went home that night excited and fulfilled hearing all these niceties. 😊😊 Thank you Sionne, Mantse Aryeequaye and the whole ADA family for the space you guys create for us to engage, share and contribute to the arts, national and global discourse. We're opening channels, breaking borders and I'm glad to be here at the moment. 💃💃👍 Photo Credit: @niikotei (at Winneba)

[tsedaye]

Co-founder/director of @chalewoteofficial Mantse Aryeequaye giving us a tour of where we will be performing, James Fort, built 1672-73 by King James. Sacred grounds. A former jail that held enslaved people's turned into a government site for the imperialists/colonizers/white supremacists then used as a prison that shutdown in 2007. This is the 1st time the doors have been opened in 10 years. @amabefree @ayana.m.evans @mollygriot #africanbodysnatchers #jamestown #virginia #accra (at Fort James)

[thatigbogirl]

These are the creatives on the Quartz Africa Innovators 2016 list

In a bid to identify and highlight impressive African thinkers, Quartz Africa initiated the Innovators series in 2015. Some of the creatives who made they list included: writer Chimamanda Adichie; actor and producer Kunle Afolayan; musician and entrepreneur Akon; musician and producer Cobhams Asuquo and artist Meschac Gaba. As with their inaugural 2015 list, these new set of innovators were…

[hyperallergic]

Seeking New Ways to Document and Share Culture

Artist Abrakoah performs as an angelic unicyclist in James Town, Ghana. (Photo by Selorm Jay, via A…

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[brownghdotcom]

Chale Wote Festival Boss Mantse finally breaks silence on abuse allegation

Chale Wote Festival Boss Mantse finally breaks silence on abuse allegation

Chief Executive Officer of Chale Wote Festival Mantse Aryeequaye, has finally broken silence on abuse allegations by his ex-girlfriend that he physically and verbally abused her.

Early this month, Mantse Aryeequaye’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Sionne Neely accused him of violating her including holding her hostage.

In another breath, popular Ghanaian rapper Wanlov Kuboloralso called out Mantse claiming…

[jokuuire]

The Country Formerly Known As Ghana - Josephine Kuuire and Mantse Aryeequaye 

A multimedia installation/ performance piece exploring how inherited and intergenerational trauma can morph into strange, distorted things of power. Taking into account the relentless colonizing and missionary occupation of Ghana, strange things become normal and a part of everyday practices. This project looks at the ways a people have persisted against foreign military intervention and the dispossession of their land, languages and cultures. Masquerade is a form invented by colonized peoples to regain dignity, joy, and freedom. This play with power changes performers into different caricatures of colonizers. Also a kind of escape, masquerade provides space to imagine different ideas of freedom through symbols of imperialist dominance and control. The Country Formerly Known As Ghana reroutes trauma through an imagined present where Ghana was never the Gold Coast and was always and permanently free. A gesture towards rebuilding our existence beyond what we know as FREEDOM.

[brownghdotcom]

Chale Wote Festival Boss Mantse accused of r@pe and physical assault

Chale Wote Festival Boss Mantse accused of r@pe and physical assault

Chief Executive Officer of Chale Wote Festival Mantse Aryeequaye, could find himself behind bars after an allegation made against him is yet to be investigated.

Mantse has been accused of physically and verbally assaulting the people close to him especially his ex- girlfriend, identified as D. Sionne Neely.

In a statement released by Dr. Sionne Neely, the ex-lover of the CEO of Accra Dot Alt…

[accradotalt]

- @Tawiahmusic shares her video Back Again featuring Wanlov. Tawiah blew the proverbial doors off when she first stepped into the UK’s alternative soul scene in 2008. Then only 18, her self released debut EP In Jodi’s Bedroom received rave reviews, earned her Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards for Best Newcomer and secured a two-year world tour with Mark Ronson supporting Jay-Z. She went on to collaborate with numerous musicians including Cee-Lo, Wale, Guy Chambers, Wiley, Dev Hynes, Ghostpoet, Corinne Bailey Rae and The Guillemots, not to mention grace every stage there is from Glastonbury to Coachella. There has been more singles and her name resonates with anyone with a love of authentic, experimental music. But she’s also been notable by her absence over the past couple of years. That is about to change with her performance at Africa Utopia’s Friday Tonic this weekend and soon-come, long-anticipated debut album. “I’ve been off the radar working on my album so Africa Utopia will be the first time performing the new material. It’s going to be a fresh experience for me and my band,” she explains. “It’s exciting to be sharing again, doing shows again. This is a super honest, super raw album. I really wanted the foundation to be live so I got all of my wonderful musician friends into the studio for a week’s lock in.” The results are two EPs and an album encompassing 21 songs produced by Sam Beste. The first fruits Dirty Water will surface in November. Born in south London to Ghanaian parents, she started singing in a church band brilliantly titled Sisters of Praise. Her mum loved gospel, her dad jazz and blues and her uncle introduced her to hip hop. (“At primary school I was listening to Erykah Badu while everyone else was into the Spice Girls.”) An all-rounder, she was also selected for Chelsea Football Club’s ladies team but choose music over the beautiful game when accepted into the famed Brit School for performing arts. She hit the live music circuit well before she was of legal age to be attending the venues she played in and spent several years on the road before taking that much-needed time out. She has always found respite and inspiration in Ghana too. “We’d go as kids and have fun chasing chickens around the compound. Then when my first record came out it was MySpace times and I got a message from a radio station in Accra asking me to come through. It blew my mind that they were playing my music over there. It was an amazing feeling. I’ve been building up relationships ever since.” Her last visit in 2014 was for her great grandmother’s 100th birthday (“She’s still going strong now at 103!”) but she still found the time to make a song and video with Wanlov the Kubolor of FOKN Bois fame. The results of which, Back Again, have gone unseen… until now. Nataal exclusively debuts this video as a taster of things to come. “I'm putting it out there now as a one-off vibe because the song is so in line with Africa Utopia,” she says. “Wanlov and I recorded with (producer) Kweku Ananse and then shot the video with (director) Mantse Aryeequaye. You see me picking out some fabric and get a shirt made by a tailor and it gives a real snapshot of what market life is like in Accra. The song itself is a bit of a rant about the music industry but it’s also saying that we’ll always bounce back and find peace, happiness and joy in our creativity.” See you down the front. via nataal.com

[accradotalt]

Icon From An African City: MaameYaa Boafo New York based Ghanaian actor MaameYaa Boafo was in Accra a couple of months ago during the shooting of the web series An African City. Mantse Aryeequaye took MaameYaa on walk through the back roads of Dzorwulu; a suburb of Accra for some photos of her just being a fly Ghana girl at home. Nana Osei Kwadwo had a chat with her later on about her craft and An African City The first time I saw MaameYaa Boafo in Nicole Amarteifio’s An Africa City, I thought she was beautiful, fierce and versatile. She stars as one of five women characters, in the webisode, that returns to live in Accra after years of studying and working abroad. Debuting less than a couple months ago, the series has quickly gained a popular online following with major media shout-outs hailing via Ebony Magazine, BBC News, BET and NPR. With comparisons being made to Sex in the City, the webisode is growing its audience by the day and captivating folks with African fashion, fly natural hairstyles and “awkward African girl” situations as the women support one another in acclimating to life in Ghana again. MaameYaa has lived most of her life traveling around the globe but currently calls New York City home. She’s now working on a new project with renowned African American novelist and playwright, Walter Mosley, as well as a few new films. Curious to know more about MaameYaa, I caught up with her recently to chat about acting, what it means to be Ghanaian, and her role in An Africa City. ADA: How did you get into acting? Are you involved in any other form of art apart from acting? MaameYaa: You know how in primary school you have to be in the school play? Well, that was me in kindergarten. I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world because I got to have one line as a sheep in our class production of Gingerbread Man. I also sang for a couple years until high school when I decided to focus on acting and also try out for the soccer team. Can you believe I was goalie!? Chale, that's why we lost a lot of our games but when I did catch the ball, those bruises on me sure looked like art. Does that count? ADA: How does your Ghanaian background influence your acting? MaameYaa: I have a very animated father who when I was a child was the best bedtime storyteller - I must say that hearing him do Kwaku Ananse played a part in that somehow. ADA: Tell us what life is like in New York. MaameYaa: This is my third year living in New York. What is that life like? It's magical at times especially in the spring and fall. Everything is here - all sorts of exposure to different worlds and culture. There is no excuse for ignorance here. It's also a tiny world in New York because everyone comes through here and it's nice recognizing people or seeing classmates from years ago in the streets and on the subway. The subways, however, are not so magical. ADA: What’s your favorite food? Favorite chill spot in Ghana? MaameYaa: Kenkey with some grilled fish or crispy "one man thousand” [fingerlings] and lots of shito from this spot in my hometown in North Suntreso, Kumasi. However, I recently discovered the calamari at Republic [Bar + Grill in Osu] and I might just start eating that with kenkey as well, so it's a win-win situation. My favorite spot to chill is my Grandma Helena's front porch in Dzorwulu. ADA: What’s a cherished childhood memory about Ghana? MaameYaa: Getting spoiled by my grandparents. One of my grandmothers owned a store that sells cloth and she'd always let me pick which one I wanted to get a dress made. ADA: How did you the role in An African City come about? MaameYaa: I saw the posting a few years ago on an actors' group page on Facebook and thought, why not audition. I actually couldn’t stay long for the audition because I had a train to catch out of town, so Nicole was kind enough to allow me to send her taped audition. ADA: You've lived most of your life abroad. How did that affect your role in An African City portraying a returnee living in Ghana? MaameYaa: I am Ghanaian. The character of Nana Yaa is "a different kind of Ghanaian, that's all" and so am I. I was born in Pakistan and raised in Sudan, Ethiopia, Switzerland and Kenya. I came to the States for college then continued my studies into graduate school. Unlike Nana Yaa, I can and do speak Twi. My parents only spoke to us in Twi when we were in the house. I’ve been told that I speak in a funny accent, so in that aspect I can definitely relate to Nana Yaa. Quite often I'm told that I don't look Ghanaian just like Nana Yaa - I'm not sure why that is since I have the momapo [big forehead] to prove it. I didn’t grow up in Ghana even though Ghana is the only citizenship I have. It definitely has its challenges but nonetheless I'm proud to be an Ashanti girl and just like Nana Yaa, I continue to embrace my heritage. In episode 8, you see her with a Twi book and she starts taking classes! ADA: Who’s on your top African designer list, especially since the clothes on the show are so fierce? MaameYaa: Gosh all of them! I loved wearing all the designs on set. Each piece is a different personality. I love representing anything that has to do with my country - so proud to see these designers representing Ghana. I would also love to wear anything by Washington Roberts of Nigeria or Taibo Bacar of Angola. ADA: What do you think about the reception of the show so far and comparisons to Sex in the City? MaamYaa: The reception has overall been positive. People love the fashion, of course, and the topics that we talk about. The main complaint is that the series is too short but I like the fact that it leaves people wanting more. I believe Nicole Amarteifio [the show’s creator, executive producer and writer] achieved her goal but introducing the world to An African City. Now things will go into more depth - if we have a season 2 - which would also mean it would be longer than fifteen minutes. Being compared to Sex and the City is only a thin layer. Yes we are businesswomen living in a metropolitan world. But the five of us are new to this city, and we are readjusting to culture shocks, traditions, finding our identity in that, learning about the double standards and what dating African men is like. Once you get to know the five of us, you see that we are our own brand. ADA: Some critics of An African City say the series is not a true representation of Ghanaian life. Do you think the show represents the reality of most Ghanaians? MaameYaa: An African City is about the chronicles of being a returnee and every returnee has a different experience that rings true to their circumstance. It's not supposed to represent a large population of Ghanaians - that doesn't even make sense because the five of us are learning about the culture as we settle. As you can see, the main characters gather together to seek comfort, advice and share their baffled moments of what life is like being in your country of origin even though you didn't live there. The thing that Nana Yaa, Sade, Zainab, Ngozi and Makena all have in common is that they CHOSE to come and make a life for themselves back home. The five of us are rediscovering the culture of Ghana and as our days turn into weeks and our weeks into months, we discover more about it. Be patient ooh this is only season 1! I think the reason why this show is so successful is because other returnees, not just Ghanaian returnees, can relate to our struggles and achievements. The characters are discovering Ghanaian culture, taboos and all, and that takes time. ADA: How has being involved in An African City shaped how you perceive the film industry in Ghana and Africa? MaameYaa: An African City is groundbreaking. As some of the reviews have noted, it was my first time working home on a set and our crew team was so passionate, enthusiastic and professional. Making a film is making a film. The collaboration becomes beautiful when people who believe in what they do surround you. I believe the industry is international despite what people say about the African films. That hasn't been my experience and even if it was, I wouldn't let that deter me from doing my job as an actress and bringing the truth of my character to the story. ADA: What are your thoughts on the webisode genre vs. TV or film? Is it the wave of the future? MaameYaa: I think webisodes are smart mediums because it's a new and exciting territory that is definitely a new wave and catching on very quickly. Since everything is becoming digital, it's more accessible. ADA: You’re working on a project with Walter Mosley. Tell us about that. MaameYaa: I'm met Walter Mosley at my callback audition for his new play Lift. He was sitting there with the producers, director and the casting director. He's such a cool cat with the best sense of humor. During rehearsals he would commute to New Jersey from New York just to see us and then he'd take the cast out to dinner and just share things about his life and all his adventures. This is a world premiere play so the fact that we get to originate these roles is pretty cool. We could just call him up and ask questions about our characters. Our show is currently running at Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. It's about two strangers who get stuck in an elevator and it's a nonstop ride, which happens for the next two hours. The response from the audience is really great. It's been a blessing to be a part of this cast. ADA: What are your long-term goals as an African actress in the States? MaameYaa: To acquaint people to the idea of who Africans are. It baffles me to this day when someone says I speak English really well for an African, or ask if I came on a boat to college. When I was in graduate school studying acting, people couldn't understand why as an African I wasn't in Law School, Med School or studying Economics. I had an unconventional upbringing according to the opinions of others. If being an African actor is unconventional, then God help us. I want to contribute to the world with what I know, what I went to school for, what makes me, me. As an African actor, my job is to be truthful in whatever circumstances my character is in whether she is African or not. My goal is to be a universal actor. ADA: What other projects do you have coming up? MaameYaa: I'm set to shoot a few films this year so stay tuned! And a few films that I shot are being screened soon. A short that I did called When It All Falls Down screens the day after Lift closes. I also currently play Cassie in another web series called Thru25 - A comedy about how a group of friends deal with life after the death of our mutual friend. And of course, we are also waiting for the announcement of season two of An African City.