Blakk Rasta returns from ‘spiritual journey’ with renewed energy

Just when it appears there is a lot of meta-sublimity going on in the Ghanaian reggae music industry, the presence of a few icons seems to be giving a positive signal that the Rastafarian melody still lives on.

One such person is Blakk Rasta of Barack Obama fame who recently returned from Ethiopia where he was invited to perform at the biggest reggae fiesta in the Rasta fraternity: Reggae at the Nile Festival. He calls it a spiritual journey.

Although Blakk Rasta became an easy fetish after his Barack Obama song gained international traction, his performance in Ethiopia is perhaps his biggest ego booster.

The reggae sensation did two concerts, one at Bahar Dar and the other in Addis Ababa, the capital, prior to which he had emceed and delivered a speech on Pan Africanism.

“These performances were well received. I was indeed amazed to see thousands punch the air to some of my popular lines,” he told Myjoyonline.com.

“The concerts were well-received and the toast of the fans was the Goat Dance with the goat bleating in the background. Fire!” he exclaimed.

The final concert was at the Haille Selassie National Theatre where artists from several countries around the world – Trinidad and Tobago, US, Ivory Coast, Jamaica among others - performed great reggae songs.

Touring Ethiopia

As a man with a strong sense of adventure, Blakk Rasta said he toured the holy land to, at least, catch glimpses of some of the much-touted sites he’d heard about.

“I went to Lalibella where Haille Selassie used to pray. I also had my turn of prayer...,” he said.

Blakk Rasta also visited Lake Tana, the source of River Nile; Lake Tana has remained of ancient monasteries dating back thousands of years.

The reggae musician-turned-tourist also told the story of how loving and hospitable the people of Bobo Camp in Shashamane were.

What perhaps dulled his excitement there was that the people were generally poor and struggled to make ends meet.

Appeal concert

Blakk Rasta is expected to return to Ethiopia later in July to perform at the Haille Selasie National Theatre. This time, he intends to emplane a full bandstand to the holy land.

He also disclosed that there are plans on the table to tour a number of Francophone countries in Africa, a project to be executed under the auspices of the Alliance Francais.