FOKN Bois
[GH]
Dubbed by Afropop Wordwide as "the cutting edge of satire in African hip-hop," FOKN Bois' bold, taboo-bashing raps have brought the Ghanaian duo to global recognition.
Wanlov the Kubolor and M3nsa began collaborating while at college together in Cape Coast. At the time, American-style hip-hop dominated popular music channels, and together, the pair has helped bring Ghanaian references and identity back into locally produced hip-hop. "We are now making it cool to be a free-thinking Ghanaian," Wanlov has said. No one could accuse FOKN Bois of not being free thinking, as their tracks lampoon social taboos in Ghana. "Thank God We Are Not a Nigerians" mocks the pressure of Nigerian artists to live up to the legacy of Fela (and widespread affinity for maintaining tradition); "Strong Homosexual Guys" pokes fun at pervasive fear and intolerance for homosexuality in the majority-Christian country; "Sextin Islamic Girls" pushes back against the perception of Muslims as overwhelmingly devout. "We just talk about [these issues] so we won’t explode," they've said.
FOKN Bois also produced and starred in Coz Ov Moni, the world’s first musical scripted in Ghanaian pidgin English, in 2010; a sequel premiered in 2014.