M.anifest
M.anifest (Kwame Tsikata) is a charismatic and rapidly rising Hip-Hop artist born in Accra, Ghana and resident in Minneapolis. Voted City Pages Songwriter of the year (2008), M.anifest has captivated the attention of music fans and critics alike with literate lyrics, compelling grooves, moving narratives, and a refreshing perspective. He has been described as an artist with “an incredible gift” (the run off groove) who possesses “the kind of assured, joyful, ruminative voice that made Mos Def into Hollywood's favorite conscious-rap star." (City Pages). AllhipHop.com profiled him (along with K’naan) as one of four African Artists “Stormin’ into the Hip-Hop World” (2009).
His widely embraced 2007 debut, manifestations, earned him high praise in a plethora of media outlets and a number of top ten album of the year honors. The Star Tribune, named manifestations as one of the top 5 albums of 2007 across genres, and later asked "What's a rapper from Ghana who's as smart as Talib Kweli and as funky as Kanye West doing in Minnesota?” He has that rare ability to effortlessly mold transnational experiences into accessible yet uncompromised songs; classic sounding songs marked by a high-level of lyricism over African inspired rhythms and melodies. Manifestations was later re-released in Europe and Japan by Groove Attack/Jakarta Records.
In the past two years, M.anifest has continued to build a following from ground-up playing shows across the U.S. (including the Chicago World Music festival and Soundset) as well as creative collaborations with Brother Ali, Slug (of Atmosphere), Tumi (South Africa) and many more. In 2008 he formed two intriguing creative partnerships that are garnering more notoriety for the Ghanaian artist: A.R.M, with Ugandan Mc Krukid (Rawkus 50) and producer Budo as well S&M with sultry Brooklyn based singer/MC Sarah White.
In 2009 M.anifest took a bold step in releasing a full length LP, “The Birds and the Beats” free of charge and in support of a Non-profit called “Young Entrepreneurs Africa.” Bloggers and musical critics noted that the birds and the beats was such an exciting piece of art it would “make you feel guilty about paying nothing for it” (City Pages). M.anifest even had the attention of mainstream press. In an editorial recap of 2009, AllHipHop.com wrote that “the ascendance of creatively engaging artists likes Minnesota MC M.anifest part of a larger African collective “stormin’ into the Hip-Hop world,” provided a good deal of promise for a Hip-Hop future free from narrowness, parochialism, and provincialism."
Equal parts charming, skillful, and intriguing, M.anifest brings a refreshing new perspective and sound to music with an unapologetically African approach. CultureBully.Com summarized the artist well when they wrote: “M.anifest is a true original, with a love for the genre that many take for granted while also being aware that he has a responsibility to say something; though he’s not afraid to show some vulnerability too”
Songwriter of the year: 2008
"Look, we like capital-S Songwriters as much as anyone—those cute indie chicks and dudes who bare their souls with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone, delivering masterful lyrics on the whimsical nature of love and life in a well-developed falsetto. But this year the word craft and songsmithing that blew off our headphones were delivered by someone a little different: Ghanaian immigrant Kwame Tsikata, known more widely as rapper M.anifest. The most obvious themes of his lyrics, race and Afrocentrism, serve as a canvas against which he paints smaller moments. His simple but clever rhymes had us hitting rewind to listen to the turns of phrase a second time, as in Against the Grain. It's a song where M.anifest lays down his vision of both a personal utopia and "the black man's paradise"—but the big dream begins quietly and elegantly: "The cold days and silent nights/Some days I don't write/I sit back and let my mind take flight."
City Pages (Best of The Twin Cities, 2008)
