The "Sark" State Of Mind

The man Sarkodie obviously needs no further introduction in the showbiz circles. He is the self-acclaimed “King” of the Ghanaian Hip Life/Hip Hop music and unless you are at variance with this regal claim or lay prostrate in worship to the “god MC” (Manifest of course), I can bet you’d bow in obeisance to the “King” and agree with this claim.

Sarkodie the rap music artiste no doubt has become a household name in Ghana and beyond and has in his own way and style, as it were, put Ghana on the world map of music. The twice Ghana Artiste of the Year and BET Award winner is a tour de force among his ilk and has stayed relevant for eons. Something I can say without the fear of hyperbole.

Well the focus of this piece is not to sing praises or idolize this “King” but rather take a journey through his mind so you would appreciate what I call the “Sark” state of mind” and also understand how his trajectory has come to be. I would also try to interrogate the mind that has made him stay relevant and still command that respect while others are still struggling to stay afloat.

I recently chanced upon a video on the “YouTube” website which featured Sarkodie giving a presentation at the “Africa Dialogues 2017” under the topic, “Consistency”. Before chancing upon that video, I have watched a couple of his interviews or talks but those to me, come nowhere close to the talk at the “Africa Dialogues 2017” in terms of their profundity.

Though the video lasted only for nine (9) minutes, it nonetheless captured very insightful, profound and thought provoking sayings of the rap star. He laid bare what had and still keeps him afloat in this era of accelerating change and tremendous competition in the music industry. If there is anything I could decipher from the presentation, it is that his mind set has been his trump card.

He started the presentation with two pictures of himself. (though he initially admitted of not being used to giving scripted speeches because he’s used to freestyles). The first one being an old picture of the early days where you would see a skinny Sarkodie (doing the “V” sign) and a current photo which shows the fleshy Sarkodie in white top and what I believe is a gold wrist watch and chain (at least he can afford them now). The whole talk was hinged on these two pictures which obviously portrays the “grass to grace” kind of narrative.

He said the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) he gets from people especially the new artistes are “…. why you keep staying consistent in the music industry and how do you do it and how do you always find a way to be on top of your game?”. After pondering or reflecting on this recurring questions for some time, this is what he did “….so what I did was I sat down throughout and trying to get what really keeps me going from this point (old picture) to the new picture. And it is just one thing I realized is just my state of mind and energy towards what I’m doing. The usual suspects, the hard work, you know, dedication, that is a must but I think mainly people tend to lose focus and not stay consistent because of the state of mind and the energy”

The “Sark” mentality or state of mind is one of incorrigible optimism and I can say from what I watched that he is not a “cry baby”. Thus he doesn’t go on a whining spree saying the world is against him or someone is invading his space. He says if you’ve been his ardent follower, you would realize that he has always had the positive vibe which I believe translates into the music he churns out. “…. if you follow Sarkodie throughout the years, it’s been about always being positive. So when I meet people, people tend to tell me their problems and what they are facing within the industry whiles I tend to listen and not necessarily act like I don’t have one, but I feel like I don’t have one. All I see is what the fans tell me to be, “King Sark” and the state of mind has been like that over the years…”

Obviously for an artiste to get to the height of where he’s gotten to, one of the major things to avoid is having a defeatist mentality. Speaking more like a motivational speaker, this is what he had to say about defeat “…defeat has never been physical, you need to accept it. Nobody can defeat anybody in this house until you do accept it and I don’t, ever since I started till today……”

Not once, not twice and on countless occasions, some artistes have complained that, their songs are not getting the air play they deserve and have bemoaned the ignoble act of “payola” which tends to put their craft at risk of extinction. Well the “Sark” mentality is not the kind that whines about his songs not being played (Though I believe he’s certainly against Payola). He has a different perspective or explanation if his songs don’t get the air play he desires and I think that’s what makes him different from the rest. “……if my songs are not being played on radio, my explanation to it is not because I’m not hot, it’s just because I’m too much that they need to give chance to the other ones in the industry”. He went further to state that “….and mainly when you think like that, it keeps you where you are so when it has to do with businesses, not just entertainment, your state of mind plays a major role in what happens to your brand”

The music industry especially the Hip Life/Hip Hop genre is increasingly becoming competitive. There is a tremendous competition going on and day in day out, new talents come with different style, energy or skill. This competition would somehow bring some threat or intimidation to the “throne” (like Daenerys to Kings Landing) but the “King” doesn’t feel intimidated one bit and the foundation of the “throne” is unwavering. “….. actually me being in a good space, and I feel like I’m comfortable, I feel like the whole world we have fans for everybody. Not everybody here is supposed to be a Sarkodie fan. I think when any other artiste come on stage, they would get applause. So I feel nobody is taking that same spot at once. Everybody can enjoy it. So I’m free enough to accommodate anything new. I love Pappy Kojo, I love Joey B, I love a new kid called B4Bona, I love Strongman who is a new artiste on my label, I love Manifest (though he said this hesitantly; the Manifest bit). You have to be very comfortable to be able to be in my industry….”. I think his position now or accomplishments have never lull him into complacency which bodes well for him.

I like the fact that he relates this to the general business environment thus the corporate world. “…. I might not know about the banks, the corporate world. I feel it is the same thing. It doesn’t change. How you feel plays a major role….”

This man has come a long way and I believe he knows he still has a long way to go to get to the kind of “musical nirvana” he dreams of (may be winning a Grammy). The only thing that can sustain him would be his state of mind which he’s exploiting very well (at least from what he has said). It’s very important for his survival. He couldn’t have put it any better when he said “……Sarkodie is here today, it started from long ago and when I hear people actually pair me with new artistes, I’m like thank God ‘cos people don’t know I’m very old in the industry but it’s just because I feel young, I feel like I’m being accepted, I feel like people love me, I don’t focus on the negative side, I always see the brighter side to my whole career….”

To the new cats (I want to believe “cat” is a Hip Hop jargon), this is what the “King” has for you “….so to the upcoming ones who are always frustrated, I think energy plays a major role in pulling you back. Stop thinking that my song is not hot, stop thinking that this guy is trying to take my spot, stop thinking that way….” he further stated “…so stop being too frustrated. When you see Sarkodie, I wanna listen to some new music. Stop telling me about the radio not playing your music….” Ya heard?

For the records, Sarkodie says he is the only Ghanaian artiste that has his music video being played on Trace TV which he even didn’t know because he doesn’t watch TV. “…. yesterday we had a forum with Trace TV and they were talking about they just played Sarkodie from Ghana and nobody else. Actually, sorry I don’t watch TV so I did not even know but they are playing it because I’ve been consistent for a very long time that I’ve been able to beat the test of time that I earned that spot”. (I don’t know if this has changed or not)

He said quite a lot in the presentation which of course I wouldn’t be able to capture all. (I’m sure when you have the luxury of time, you can search for it). One thing I also like about this presentation is how he relates it with the corporate setting and using some marketing techniques to get clients/followers (like the Sarknation) etc. “…. please the people that care most about Sarkodie are the Sarkodie fans and that’s the people I focus on. And when they scream, they bring on board other people. I might not know you, you might not know me today, but when I came on stage, you had the Sarknation screaming and you’d like to go and check who Sarkodie is. So make your main focus, if it’s four people who like you, your consumers, not taking it from the creative arts bit, any business you are doing, your consumers are six, four, concentrate on that, give it to them, let them be proud of you and genuinely, you’d have masses”

The presentation had a lot of food for thought especially for the upcoming ones who would like to remain relevant for a long time. There has been too many “one hit” artistes and too many “sharp sharp music” (as Gyedu Blay Ambuley describes them) which doesn’t even last a year. I don’t think any artiste would want to fall into that category.

The “King” has shared his wisdom and any artiste who pays attention and religiously follows through would surely be inducted into the “Kingdom” regardless of the genre of music.

To wrap up on his presentation, he appealed to the corporate world or potential investors to consider investing in the Ghanaian music industry because it could be a multi-billion industry if well structured (of course he has his biases since he’s from Ghana) “…..so if you’re here and you would want to help, you know, invest in it, I’m still around. We can have a conversation and I’m open to let you know what you can do to help the industry. Thank you so much.”

The “King” gets a rousing applause.