Lately, an assembly of upcoming artists had the pleasure to learn from and work with Sarkodie, also known as Micheal Owusu Addo who is one of Ghana’s prominent entertainers and, entrepreneurs. This happened during the Sarkcess Writing camp in Ghana. The writing camp is a unique gathering of Africa’s top and emergent creative artistes. The camp was organized for the purpose of motivating and, sharing creativity in writing.
The visible results of the camp include, a number of songs set to be released from the countless number of collaborations that took place during the sessions. As is the nature of Sarkodie’s artistry, these songs will undoubtedly touch on aspects of African society and the role of the youth in creating change and positive impact.
The intangible outcomes include a sense of confidence built into the participants; and more significantly the intensified interest of women in the creative arts due to the level of participation that was realized. This could be the eye opener that leads to more women focused camps or a drive for women inclusion in such collaborations especially in Ghana. This goes a long way to speak on matters of gender equality.
Additionally, the camp included discussions that emphasized entrepreneurship and financial Literacy and Management in music artistry. These skills are key to creating viable sources of revenue for African artists in alignment with decent work and economic growth for all.
The guidance, desire and determination of Sarkodie as a giant in African music is undisputed. His ability to bring these creative minds from different parts of Africa together, while staggering in itself, also shows the need for a long-term vision for the creative industry and the role it plays in the wider African narrative of economic and social development.
Here-in lies an unhitched opportunity for policy makers, businesses, government bodies such as tourism boards and not-for-profit organizations especially in Ghana to ride on the voice of the creative sector to achieve lasting impact.
The Sarkcess writing camp is just an example of platforms that can be used to achieve this. The buzz generated from this collaborative engagement has heightened anticipation by fans and music lovers alike. The songs born out of the writing camp can serve to influence generations and lift several emerging artists from a place of obscurity onto global heights.
Organisers of the camp, The Sarkcess Foundation and partners, confirm that plans are already underway for further engagement with the creative industry to support empowerment and optimization of creative arts in Africa.
A writing camp is about, gathering of producers and top liners in a pre-selected location for the purpose of sharing creativity and writing songs. A camp can last for a few days or a week or longer.
The camp usually takes place in a spacious destination with a lot of separate rooms where writers can be divided into smaller groups. Often the purpose of the gathering is to generate material for a specific artist.
With the above understanding of what a writing camp is, it seems obvious Sarkodie is working on a major project.
