Kwaa Mensah - Kalabule


I'm not sure when this was actually recorded. The cover of the Vintage Palmwine compilation says that all the songs were recorded at Bokoor Studios in Ghana, which opened in 1982, and Kwaa Mensah died in 1991 at age 71, so presumably somewhere in there? But also the song appears to have received covers from other artists in the late 70's, so it's unclear to me when it's actually from.

Regardless, I love getting caught up in Kwaa Mensah's deeply felt eddy of percussive blues. I believe the title is a slang term for "corruption", which illustrates the stark emotional wages paid by the citizenry when they are let down by those who hold power. Disappointment in one's society get be just as crushing as any heartbreak, and Mensah makes that abundantly clear.

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