ROCKY DAWUNI

The roots reggae musician is touring with his sixth album— Branches of the Same Tree. As that title suggests, his appearance Saturday at Afrikadey! will be all about spreading a little love. It’s an ethic that Dawuni embodies off the stage as well. Dawuni spoke to Hanna McLean from Los Angeles about his music and his humanitarian work.

What is your favourite thing about being a musician?

Being able to have the altered perspective of observation. Watching social forces, watching people, listening to people, experiencing people’s triumphs and pain and aspirations, and being able to put all of this into melody and words. To create something that will constantly be able to remind people of this experience. The power to sing and celebrate with everybody, it’s really a fantastic feeling.

So people who come to Afrikadey! should be prepared to celebrate?

My music is about empowerment and it’s also about connecting people— connecting them to what is most important, whether it’s between countries or individuals or communities. I feel that the most important thing is the connection you make with the people, and you get to share your story and history.

You grew up on a military base in Ghana. How did that effect you?

The soldiers there, too, a lot of them were involved in the UN peacekeeping efforts so they always travelled, mostly to the Middle East. I remember they kept bringing in new music— mostly American pop and the stuff that you couldn’t find traditionally in Ghana. All of that was part of what my little world in the barracks was, a lot of great music, a lot of music that was floating in that you couldn’t find around Ghana, multi- cultural interactions, political ideas being thrown everywhere, so it really shaped me, my music, and my world view.

And that world view includes humanitarian work

I’ve worked a lot with UNICEF on clean water initiatives. I’ve also been involved a lot with women’s issues— to do more HIV prevention, and also recently Clean Cookstoves initiatives. For me, the humanitarian initiatives provide me the opportunity to be able to also implement the message I speak about on stage, anything that upholds the greater good.

You’ve played with many talented musicians. is there a performance that stands out for you?

There are two— but with the same person. In Ghana, Stevie Wonder jumped onstage with me to do a rendition of my song “Wake the Town.” It was really incredible and beautiful. A few years later I was invited to perform with him at the Hollywood Bowl— myself, Janelle Monáe, Charles Bradley, and Sharon Jones joined Stevie to do the song “Higher Ground.” It was a very unbelievable phase in my career, definitely something I will hold continuously in my heart.