Ghanaian rapper, Kwame Nsiah-Apau, otherwise known as Okyeame Kwame, has called for a national reawakening, one that redefines how traditional practices are taught, understood, and represented across both education and the creative industries.
Speaking on Hitz FM, the rapper shared a troubling experience his son faced in school during an art lesson on body painting. The teacher’s interpretation, he said, reflected a deeper problem: cultural distortion in the classroom.
“I think they were discussing body painting and what it was used for. And the art teacher said that when a priest paints himself, he is invoking evil spirits. And then my son thought back and said, No, no, no, it is not fetish. It is a traditional priest. Once you call it fetish, you have marginalised it,” Okyeame Kwame recounted.
He explained that such misrepresentations not only reinforce harmful stereotypes but also erase the value of traditional roles within Ghanaian society.
“And how is it that the priest, the person telling people to clean their cities, advising the chief, who knows herbs, and understands the culture, and is a custodian of traditional artifacts and wisdom? How is he using bad spirits to do good things in the community? So this is what I was talking about,” he continued.
The incident, for him, reflects a broader need to embed cultural knowledge in education in ways that affirm, rather than shame, Ghanaian identity.
“I think that it is very, very important that we get to understand our tradition well. And cultural relevance and its nuances must be taught in schools so that we know who we are. Because without that, our identity is lost in this whole cosmopolitan matrix,” he said.
In a separate interview with Graphic Showbiz, Okyeame Kwame pushed the conversation further, urging creators in music, fashion, film, and digital media to infuse their work with living cultural elements, not just ceremonial ones.
“Bringing chieftaincy into pop culture is crucial. If our music, visuals and storytelling can project our traditions in relatable and modern ways, we will help the next generation understand who they are,” he emphasized.
He warned that without conscious effort, modern systems and media could continue to erode Ghana’s cultural foundation.
“If we continue to allow our institutions and our media to dilute or shame our cultural symbols, we risk losing our soul as a people. It’s not enough to celebrate culture on Independence Day alone. It must be an everyday reality,” the Rap Doctor noted.
Calling on fellow creatives to embrace innovation rooted in tradition, the rapper issued a challenge:
“Our culture is not outdated. It is rich, it is meaningful and it can be ‘cool’ if presented creatively. Let’s make chieftaincy ‘cool’ again,” he said.
For Okyeame Kwame, safeguarding tradition isn’t just about nostalgia, it’s about relevance, identity, and the power of telling one’s story on one’s own terms.
