30Minitz: Celebrating Women in Music - Noella Wiyaala & Efya

 As I said in an earlier blog post of the same title, the month of July was dedicated to celebrating women in music in a TV show I host, 30Minitz. This is the last edition.

Being a woman in the industry means dealing with a lot of distractions you could otherwise avoid if you were male, particularly in the hyper-religious country that is our very own Ghana. – “When will she get married?’ ‘Do you think she will ever find a husband?’ ‘I’m sure she slept her way to the top.’ ‘This music business is not for respectable women’ ‘Did you hear about her nudes/sex tape?’ ‘I hear she smokes’ ‘My friend’s classmate’s best friend’s brother slept with her back in High School.’

Women constantly have to battle with the sexual image, thus prison, society puts them in and actually making real music and having people appreciate them for the art that they create. So those who overcome these challenges are made of heroic material in my eyes.

 This edition featured two female musicians I admire tremendously: the indigenously African Noella Wiyaala and alternative/ soul/ afro-soul singer Efya. One thing that strikes me about these two is that they both have a strong sense of self, and would proudly wear their own banners and not bow to societal pressures and expectations of ‘what a female musician should be and look like.’ Both artistes have one thing forefront in their minds: To take their music beyond Ghana to the rest of the world. And yes, they are both on Wikipedia!

 Noella Wiyaala serves you that authentic taste of Africa, the kind you don’t get anymore. She makes rich, indigenous African music, singing in her powerful, deep voice the tongue of Sisaala from Wa, in the northern part of Ghana. Her rhythms are universal. Noella dabbles in Afro pop, Afro rock, and my particular favourite, tribal folk music. (She does a pretty remarkable one in this clip). She has released a one-off dancehall track, a frankly sexual number called ‘Rock my Body’. In this clip, she speaks candidly about her experiences as a young female artiste in the Ghanaian music industry; the inevitable sexual preconceptions many women have to deal with and how she overcame them, male manipulation of the feminine image and self expression, and being natural and being true to yourself.

“I want to be one of the best that has ever been discovered in Africa. I want to make a name for myself so big that nobody will forget me when I die.” ~ Efya.

My attraction to Efya was her difference, and her embracing her difference, despite the backlash she sometimes gets because she’s different. Efya has so ingrained herself in Ghana that she is one of the VERY FEW who can switch genres and make mainstream Ghanaians love alternative music or soul (music mainstream Ghana cannot fathom! But they will love it once it’s coming from Efya). In this clip she speaks about the influence her mother had on her image and sense of self, becoming global and leaving a legacy, as well as making real music.