Saturday, January 06, 2018

'No Way': The Arte in Pappy Kojo's Video


From the start, No Way is served (and serves the ear) with sumptuous background music (the eye has its share, too, as we see). The whole 'sound-system', piano-anchored and spiced with subtle drumming, is a 'blast'. The inspired vocalist, Ghanaian Pappy Kojo, has a gripping story to tell here, as he re-lives a past he'd probably love to forget. He can't. 

Click to watch the video


This whole affair is made more intriguing by the use of an extended optical illusion in much of the video. Recounted life is on a reverse mode: folks walk backwards from the present. It's a form of subliminal looking-back with pent-up emotion and defiance (No Way!) at past betrayals and, all-in-all, life's disillusions. 


The videography is the product of superior creative thinking and doing. It is captivating, and technically inspiring. A lovely video. A lovely song. A superb beat to wrap it all in.  

"Never again", Pappy Kojo swears again and again. It's complicated. And, in the end, it's a sombre reminiscing of the many-sided isolation of diaspora life. 


UPDATED: January 11, 2018

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