Song: Sarkodie

Producer: MOG Beats

Author of review: Kwame Dadzie

An effusion of deep emotions, conveyed in the sobriety of a minor key, steeped in a much relatable sermon of hate! That's a pithy description of Sarkodie's latest musical piece, ‘Otan’.

‘Otan’, released about a week ago, has already started generating excitement among music lovers.

The song is loaded – from instrumentation, message, choice of key, to delivery, this is undoubtedly one of Sarkodie’s most beauteous paintings of melody, harmony, and Rhythmic African Poetry.

This is my review!

Production

MOGBeatz seems to have grown to understand Sarkodie’s music assignment and his inner creative persona so well. Anytime he lays a beat for the ‘Highest’ rapper, one can feel the comfortability with which Sarkodie delivers.

The key in G Minor is striking. Minor scales have a special effect on somber emotions.

Sarkodie’s singing  

I love it when rappers sing. A lot of them, including Sarkodie are not typical vocalists but their singing usually evoke a feeling that would want the music lover yearn for more.

In an era when most hip hop artistes are gradually blurring the line between singing and rapping (by adding shades of melody to their rap), it’s not surprising the 'Landlord' would produce such a creative piece.

His singing actually serves as the pre-chorus.

The angelic chorus

You know that feeling you get when you are listening to an ‘akutia nnwom’, then from nowhere you hear a sweet harmony of words that sound like a typical Sunday Sermon? That's exactly what the chorus to the song does.

“Let your angels cover me everyday

Cover me every night

Na otan hunu adooso

I'm on the top and I keep on winning

Higher we go

Highest we go dey.”

The mellifluous voices of the chorus can take one to church in a minute. It gives the whole composition a soothing touch.

Textual analysis    

Sarkodie may be speaking for himself by using the first person narrative style, but the song communicates to everybody – we all believe we have haters, even when we don’t know them.

Interestingly, there are people who think you hate them when you may not have even thought evil about them. "Everybody has haters."

Sarkodie, as he has done in a number of his hip hop songs in the past, really poured his heart out in ‘Otan’.

It comes across as someone venting his spleen over a number of issues that are eating him up.

For those who are familiar with the modus operandi of Sarkodie, when issues come up about him, he usually shudders to comment. He would rather wait, compose them to music and release them.

His opening lines “I've been fighting this battle with demons inside of me, I just want stay in my lane so nobody can bother me", sets the tone for someone who has cocked his gun to aim at his prey.

A lot has happened within the year, especially Samini calling Sarkodie out for not availing himself for song, and Yvonne Nelson mentioning in her book that Sarkodie impregnated her in the past but left her to her fate after an abortion.

He seems to have made allusions to all these in the song. The expression “idols go turn to your rivals”, could be a jab at the "rain god" Samini.

Sarkodie on his ‘ego’

Sarkodie really comes across as a cool, calm and collected individual but I am sure it is public knowledge now that he does not have the heart to tolerate a lot of nonsense about him.

To say people should not touch his ego because he’s too sensitive tells a lot about his temperament, something he may have managed so well because of he is a public figure.

I am not sure Sarkodie made some of the claims in the song out of assumption. He may have had real life experiences of people scheming to break him. In an industry as competitive as the music space, it is not strange to hear stories of people jostling for supremacy.

The line: “thought I had niggas nsem to me aa they go ride for me” shows Sarkodie’s disappointment in people in whom he reposed so much trust.

Poetic licence or bastardisation of an intrusive ‘r’?

It’s lovely to hear Sarkodie try to add some English language to his rap. For the umpteenth time, language really matters in song appreciation, a reason Sarkodie has been doing a blend of Twi and English in some of his recent compositions.

I noticed something about some of his pronunciations. I know we cannot get it right all the time since English isn’t our native language. However, we can strive to get the basic pronunciations right.

Sarkodie pronounces ‘judge’ as /dʒɛːrdʒ/ and 'edge' as /ɛːrdʒ/ in the first verse of his rap. I understand he was using American English, so he was allowed to articulate the "r" as in ‘church’, ‘emerge’. However, per the IPA rules, ‘judge’ is pronounced /dʒʌdʒ/ and 'edge' as /edʒ/ in all variants of the English Language, with short vowels sounds without an intrusive “r”.

Some may argue it out from the artistic licence perspective but phonetically, the pronunciations are wrong.

That notwithstanding, 'Otan' is a masterpiece that will surely find a place in the hearts of most music lovers the world over.

Listen to 'Otan' below: