CHRIS BROWN: WAS IT WORTH A MILLION BUCKS? by Kwame Gyan

Source: http://kwamegyan.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/chris-brown-was-it-worth-a-million-bucks/

Chris Brown’s show was ok. It was not ‘wow’. There has been enough said about why rlg will spend $1M on CB whose popularity and clout has been as mixed and inconsistent as that of his relationship with Rihanna. Again, there have been questions about why a supposedly middle income state on paper but lower income on the ground will dole out a million bucks to a 23 year old who already has too much money for his age. But hey, you and I have no say in what Roland Agambire chooses to use his monies and his connections to do. For example, he has started that ambitious technology village christened Hope City. That is awesome. But apparently, the idea to bring in bad boy Chris Brown may not have been that awesome. The show itself was ok. CB did his thing; the dude is a good dancer and sings well too. I wont say he mimed. He sang along and did acapellas in between. His five dancers were good too. But Chris Brown disrespected the sponsors, the organizers, his fans, the crowd at the stadium and everyone with the remotest link to yesterday’s show.

LATE ARRIVAL

I have always detested foreign acts who arrive in Ghana just hours before their shows. I am told he was actually supposed to have been at the ground breaking ceremony for the Hope City which was done by JM last Monday. Of course he didn’t show although some members of his crew arrived at least three days earlier. Dude came in about 2pm.

TOO UNEXCITED

Before Ludacris came to Ghana he sent tweets about it. He said loads of things about Ghana before and after his show. Bow Wow, yes a little famous these days, also did same. Chris Brown did none of these. Maybe he is taking time off social media but there were tweets from his twitter handle about some other matters. You can say he does not run his pages himself but it is still no excuse. CB didn’t seem to care about his show here.

FOUL LANGUAGE & WEED SMOKING ON STAGE

I have become less insensitive hearing foreign acts using swear words. Too much of it though becomes irritating. We had our fair share of it last night. What on earth though was Chris Brown thinking when he asked the crowd if any smoked weed? When he started, a section of us booed. I began asking myself ‘what on earth is this boy doing’. Then when it seemed it was supposed to be some act, I thought, ‘ok maybe Chris is on some crusade to change attitudes’. I wish. Then he said ‘ if anyone is tripping cos you smoke weed, fuck them’. As if this was not bad enough, he pulls out a joint, lights it, inhales and exhales away. I was shocked to the bone. Where was security? They were there. Police, Military. I even saw a few Military Police. If they protested to anyone at some point then I am yet to find out. I think we need answers from rlg, Charterhouse, Empire. Who gave CB the weed? Did they know he was going to smoke it to a live audience which included loads of people under the age of 18? If he brought it down from the US then there is a bigger question on the status of our airport security. If he did, then perhaps we should start worrying about just how much illicit drugs come and go through Kotoka.

WHY WIZKID?

When Ludacris came to Ghana he attended at least one radio interview with Sarkodie. During the show, it was Ludacris who introduced Sarkodie. And guess what, they did a remix to one of Ludacris’ hots before Sark continued from there. Chris Brown invited Wizkid from Nigeria to dance azonto with him. What kinda insult was that? We own azonto. Our brothers from Nigeria are trying to steal it and we seem not to have a say when this is rubbed in our faces? There was no connection between CB and Ghana. Dude did not even mention the company that signed his million dollar cheque for him, let alone promote the Hope City.

SECURITY

Aside our security people not been able to stop CB from breaking our laws on stage, they seemed not to know how to handle crowds after they have entered the stadium. Thing is, once someone enters through a designated gate, the person is thus entitled to sit at a specific location by virtue of where they entered from. It seemed like the misapplication of common sensej especially when they kept shoving and pushing people as though we were in some jungle.

LOCAL ACTS

I just think our local folks should learn how to finish singing their songs on stage. They start and stop midway when they feel like. We have always complained about the stagecraft of these guys. Aside Samini, VIP and Kwaw Kesse, and to some extent 4×4 and Sarkodie, the rest are really awful. They should respect our audiences and learn how to really entertain. Much as Chris Brown may not have awed me, no one can doubt his performance acumen. Can we say some for our local folks?

SO WAS IT WORTH IT?

Perhaps it was. But not for a million bucks and certainly minus the stupid and criminal antics of smoking weed on stage.

By Kwame Gyan

OPEN SPACES AND PUBLIC ART

Open spaces are very important network for a wide range of human activities. The way these spaces are managed has profound influence on the manner in which the public uses them. If the space is left unattended, the public encroaches on it with all types of indecent structures. On the other hand, if the general aesthetic mood of the open space in question is properly enhanced, a stimulating creative atmosphere is thus established therefore preventing the public from desecrating that space.
One important consideration, ignored more often than not, when it comes to landscape planning for our open spaces, is public sculpture. Dynamic public sculpture is virtually non-existent in our Ghanaian environment. Dynamic public sculpture in this context neither refers to the several sculptural renditions of mother and child that dot certain open spaces in Accra nor the seemingly deformed sculptural portrait of Busia at Akuafo roundabout, not to talk of the horrific and embarrassing busts of six unidentifiable individuals at the Kotoka Airport interchange. What is being brought up for scrutiny, is the advocacy to install elegant monumental sculptural works of art of symbolic richness at selected open spaces, that should stimulate the aesthetic sensibilities of the viewing public.
Works of art in various forms from time immemorial have played an indispensable role in landscape design all the world over. These works do not only complement architectural structures and open spaces, but, also provide the appropriate cultural touch, identity, character and in more general sense, humanize buildings as well as add value to the aesthetic environment of public parks.
The importance and lack of public parks for recreational purposes in this country has never been properly addressed over the years. Parks and gardens feature prominently in many cities of the world. Paris, which stands out as one of the best among equals, is reputed to have more than four hundred parks and gardens strewn with spectacular sculptures and water fountains. The city ranks as the most beautiful and romantic and also as one of the most preferred tourist destinations in Western Europe.
How else could this have been achieved if not as a result of a conscious and deliberate effort to create these places of recreation, by investing money and the expertise of artists, architects, landscapers, florists and visionaries for things that are beautiful.
In recent times, it is heartening to know that certain locations in Accra for example are being given some attention as far as recreational parks are concerned, e.g. the Nationalism Park at Independence Square.
If art is to play its full role in the building and maintenance of a free and aspiring Ghanaian society, then we all must encourage and allow for the creative environment to exist and to grow.
For the tourism industry to receive further lease of life, we must recognize among other equally important considerations that our environment is most crucial in this bid and deserves to be given the kind of artistic packaging which should add value to its dimensions.
Perhaps the most important contribution Africa has made to the world of Art of the 20th Century is her powerful sculptures that can be found in almost all the important museums in the world. Most of these take the form of traditional wood carvings and metal figurines, which in themselves have other cultural meanings, than the purpose of appealing to human aesthetic sensibilities. These works of art have all attributes that elicit the highest reaction and reflection, which have inspired artists and international art movements such as Cubism.
One would have thought that for that reason, there would have been an abounding presence of African Sculpture in one form or another in our open public spaces and city squares as complements to our architectural edifices. Unfortunately, these are consigned to curio shops considered fit only for the export market.
There is a need to recreate and transpose our varying traditional African art forms into dynamic and monumental sculptural statements as a way of projecting our cultural, nonetheless, our national identity within a well planned green environment. Monumental groups of sculptures based on our traditional concepts of Akuaba Doll, Linguist Staff, Mamprusi Masks, the ceremonial Gong, bold Geometric designs of Navrongo, Adinkra symbols etc. fashioned in durable materials like stainless steel, brass, copper, cast bronze, cast aluminium, or cast fibreglass.
This would preserve the icons of our past in monumental sculptural forms and help project our cultural identity within our Ghanaian environment. The significance of these symbols of identity to numerous visitors to Ghana cannot be over emphasized.
It is one important way of projecting Kwame Nkrumah’s ideal of cultural identity (the African personality) as well as branding and selling Ghana to the outside world. To achieve this goal, it will need some amount of official support both morally and financially. Adequate financial support comprises the most crucial and important determinant for its realization.

Written by Kwami Gudzi Agbeko
Opinion Ed, Daily Graphic, Saturday May 5, 2012.