FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 1
ART COLLECTION “I decided to make this Art Collection very personal as well as inspiring. Even if you didn’t live through this with me, at least you get to watch it in Design. Thank you to PLEGISHES, Myki, Kojo Pinz, TH’FRVNCHMVN, My friends in Ashesi, The entire Catholic World Youth Day family, my family and everyone with whom I shared these life changing experiences.
These experiences inspired me throughout the making of this Art Collection."
I call it ‘The Heart Collection’. BRYAN THE MENSAH
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 2
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 3
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 4
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 5
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 6
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 7
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN EP [ABOUT]
Friends with the Sun is about facing your fears. The sun here is representing all the obstacles and hindering circumstances that everyone who is trying to achieve something great in this life will surely come across. In my experiences, I’ve come to learn that the idea of ‘complexity’ is determined by one’s level of understanding concerning a certain issue. I figured out that, everything is an issue. Regardless of whether the effects are good or bad, it’s still an issue & issues need to be understood in order to eliminate the idea of ‘complexity’. It is only in the absence of complexity that the problem can be solved. ‘Friends with the Sun’ is about understanding your fears, challenges & obstacles and making them work for you as an opportunity instead of a hindrance. “So whatever your sun is, paddie am”.
ALL SONGS WERE MIXED & MASTERED BY GHOST LXXXVIII & DRVMROLL.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 8
Good Design (Feat. Melanon) Starring: THE MANDEM This song was recorded with T MAK at West Legon and ironically, it is the last song we wrote, produced and recorded on the EP. Good design is actually just about being ready. I'm the kind of person that does a lot more of deep thinking and observation than talking. As such, I'm mostly quiet even when I'm around people. In one of these moments I noticed that our lives depend heavily on culture cos our culture determines how we live, what we think we can do and cannot do and it gives us a sense of direction. Our individual ideation & creativity is what drives the culture which in turn drives us. We need it to grow. However, the successful implementation of these ideas requires us to be ready. Being ready for life is not easy but it is very worth it. In fact, there's a whole process called 'getting ready' and it applies to anything and everything you want to do in this life. You don't just get up and be great. Most people however give up either at the beginning, in the middle or even before beginning this process. Thus, the longevity of their art is heavily affected and that's why the top is so lonely. Don't rush, build yourself first.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 9
Wallabow You This song was recorded at Villain Sounds studio at Spintex Road and was produced by Odunsi sometime in early 2016. Kuvie, BS, Fii and Ghost LXXXVIII were involved in the processing of this song. Wallabow You is basically a question I'm posing to all the nosy hypocritical people in the world (Cos I know they're everywhere and it's so super sad). I'm just trying to find out what exactly they get from being nosy and gossiping about people cos it is really beyond my understanding. I mean, what's better than keeping quiet, minding your business and staying focused on your life and how to make it better? I for one know it keeps you safe cos you don't get beat up unexpectedly from time to time which saves you a whole lot in medical expenses plus you don't get to make the mistake of wrongly judging people.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 10
See The Move This song is the most personal song on the EP to me. Even though I'm a quiet person, people really have a very strong effect on me because I'm always trying to learn something new from either the way they behave, think or feel. This song was also recorded at Villain Sounds. Here, I was basically reflecting on a past experience that I had with a few people whom I used to think were friends of mine. I wrote this song with all the painful and angry emotions I had ever felt. These people actually taught me that fake people actually existed and betrayal was not just a theme for the movies. As time went on, I grew and matured in my thinking and then I realized that moving on no matter how damaging the situation was is always the best option to go with. Cos I'm too young and I can't really stress myself like that.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 11
All This Life (Feat. Melanon) Starring: Grandma Recorded also at Villain Sounds and West Legon. I actually started making this song in the bathroom one morning after several times of listening to Ru's 'So Long Feat. Jayso'. It really fueled my inspiration during the production of the beat and at that moment, I really felt like I was guided to make it cos there was no way it was going to end up sounding like this if I had just made it based on my own personal instincts. My grandma was actually calling for me during a rehearsal sound check session in my room and that's how come you could hear her voice in it at the beginning and at the end as well. I felt like her voice was part of the experience during the making of the song so I decided to add it to the final song. Nothing deep. All This Life basically talks about the purpose of life and finding your way through trust, faith and guidance from God. Melanon actually made me enjoy this song more cos after I recorded the chorus, I just knew she'd be able to sing it way better.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 12
Last December (Feat. Tano Jackson) Starring: THE MANDEM This song was also recorded at Waxy's studio with NeL Magnum & West Legon with T MAK. Even though the lyrics are mine, I feel like the real song is from Epidemix. This is because by making the beat, he gave us an atmosphere on how to feel and the kind of memories, thoughts or experiences that we could easily exploit to turn this song into a major throwback adventure. We were initially going to call it 'Woke Up From Something' like it says in the chorus but Tano thought the title wasn't really working for him so we took a different direction that wouldn't take the story too far away from the title. I.e.: The Date and time frame within which it all happened. The song is actually just a late-night-into-the-morning chat between a guy and girl. This guy just really liked this girl but he wasn't able to get with her after all his attempts. So he got over her over time, moved on and now is just randomly talking to her to see how she's doing because good relationships don't really ever end. Unless it's on purpose. But I and THE MANDEM had coded moves to make in the dawn time though. So yeah... The whole song was just a side thing.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 13
Jesse (Feat. Tim Lyre & Fii) This song was recorded at Cyclone Studios with Dorsty Beatz. A lot of people actually wondered why the title is what it is and I'm also pretty sure a lot of people actually thought she was the person we were talking about in the song. But nope, nope nope. You're all wrong. This is what really happened. One afternoon I was in the discussion room at school just checking out some sound samples when a friend of mine, Jessica came in and sat next to me at my table. I think she was waiting for her group meeting to start. While she was waiting, she was checking out what I was doing and began to show interest which was very rare to me for a girl in these modern times. She then asked me to teach her how to make beats so we started working on something, picked a few sounds, threw in a few ideas. I wanted to make the beat sound very simple so she'd understand the whole process. But it happened so fast, and it got so catchy that by the time we were done with the beat, I had a whole intro, Verse and a hook already composed in my mind and I said to myself 'Yo this tin be jam chale.' The song is about getting a girl to trust that you're legit cos too many people rush into relationships these days. Most often, without a cause or any true intentions. Streets ain't safe!
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 14
Pop Mandem (Feat. Jayso) Another song also recorded at Waxy's with NeL Magnum and was produced by Epidemix. This song is also very personal to me cos ever since I decided to take music seriously, most of the comments I got from a lot of people went like 'So you too you're going to start smoking, drinking and chasing women sooner or later eh?' It's really sad to watch people think about the music profession with such a misguided view. It's even worse because there was this one time when an artiste told me that if I wanted to really do music seriously, I had to pick at least one of the three lifestyles mentioned above and that was when I realized how messed up the status quo had become because no lifestyle is supposed to be associated to any profession. A lifestyle is a choice. An individual choice. Anyone can smoke, anyone can drink and anyone can be a womanizer. It has nothing to do with music. It's your life and yours only so make decisions for yourself and yourself only. Not for an entire industry of talented professionals. Pop Mandem which means 'Watch me' is basically saying, watch me do it all on my own. I didn't need drugs. I didn't have to change my personality or the kind of person I was to make music and be great at it. I'm still the same. I'm still trying to make a difference like they are. Just without any influences. Cos to me, that's actually very comfortable and the most reasonable thing to do. Chale you can't stress me. FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 15
Darling Falling (Feat. Kwesi Arthur) Recorded at Cyclone Studios with Dorsty Beatz. This song is for all those people who are afraid to take risks in life and in business. Darling here is referring to Ghana cos that's where I'm from and that's the only case study that I can confidently derive great points from. In the song, I stated that I could hear pieces of my darling falling. This was inspired by the state of employment and business in Ghana. A whole lot of degree holders with a lot less degree-holder knowledge. So they can't really apply their knowledge into starting something to benefit society because there was little or no real knowledge there in the first place. The point here for most people is to simply graduate from the university. After that, their next move is to get a job at some big company that pays well and just live a comfortable life. New problems and challenges are faced every day in this country. The purpose of businesses is to add value to lives and not just to make money and go away. New businesses and ideas are supposed to be there to fix these problems. But then again, we were always never known to be the kind of people who strongly supported each other in establishing new ways of doing things. Therefore every business venture is automatically seen as a high risk scene and is quickly avoided leaving our problems to thrive.
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 16
Credit & Appreciation Everybody here is great. I promise. Every single name here is great.
Production These are a list of all the awesome producers that made Friends With The Sun worth making, fun, a once in a lifetime experience, an opportunity to discover value in oneself and another reason as to why I now perfectly understand this quote: 'One man is not an island'.
Epidemix Ghost LXXXVIII Odunsi (The Engine) Rudolf Acolatse NeL Magnum Kwaku BS Kuvie O B Kay
BRYAN THE MENSAH Drvmroll Jessica Azubuko Fii Tano Jackson Kwasi Boryo T MAK Dorsty Beatz
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 17
Concept Development The thinking did a lot of damage. A lot of us lost a lot of sleep and a lot of weight. However the thorough thinking and ideation is what took Friends With The Sun out of my mind as simply an idea, gave it a sense of direction & purpose and grew it into a real-life product that everyone could now enjoy.
Raaj Ahiable Bryan Mensah Michael Adu Benedict Enninful Elliot Afuah THE MANDEM Kelvin Ackon Catter Dennis Boateng Jessica Azubuko Irene Dede Teye Rudolf Acolatse NeL Magnum Djambo Tseda Shop Michael Aborah-Boateng Antony Can-Tamakloe Tano Jackson Fii Nana Akua Asare-Lartey PLEGISHES Design Team
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 18
Songwriting, Content & Composition The level of ideation and creativity that exists in the minds of these wonderfully talented people is tremendously outstanding. Our collective efforts gave so much life to the music. It's our goal to inspire basically everyone to be able to do basically anything.
BRYAN THE MENSAH Epidemix Odunsi (The Engine) Djambo Tano Jackson Kwesi Arthur Michael Aborah-Boateng Melanon
Fii Jayso THE MANDEM Mrs. Agnes Arthur (Grandma) Tim Lyre Drvmroll Ghost LXXXVIII NeL Magnum
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 19
Art, Photography & Design God's design is always the best design. Funny thing here is that, more than 70% of the people in this list are people that I either grew up with or have known for a long time. It's just amazing how God brought us all together through our talents, ideas, complex understanding and generous contributions of how great art should be made in order to create this amazing design scheme for Friends With The Sun. We made magic.
Kenneth Essien Bryan Mensah Michael Adu Michael Aborah-Boateng
Raaj Ahiable THE MANDEM Benedict Enninful PLEGISHES Design Team
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 20
Media & Art Outlets If there's a way to expand the meaning of the word 'amazing', it is these guys. These guys always make sure that my words and my work don't stay stagnant or stuck to specific eyes or ears. Their determination and dedication in promoting the African culture and arts to the rest of the world is simply remarkable.
ONE FUSE BOX Unorthodox Reviews Narrow Down Eff the DJ Amuse Talking Drum Urbanroll Seasoned Magazine TUC Campus Radio PLEGISHES What's Popping West Hybrid Kamp Tseda Shop Jamtu.it The Playlist GH
Harmattan Rain Motionhype Ghana Blacklef OctoSounds RADR Aftown D.C. Leakers Teen Voice Magazine The Beat 99.9 FM Blacklef Lyrics Afro Lyfestyle Neo Spirituals The Soul-ceity Ghanamusic Mi Promo
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 21
Logistics & Organization These are the people whose handiwork gave life to Friends With The Sun. Without their fuel burning, sweat dripping, brain racking, early awakening, late sleeping, phone calling & ringing, credit buying, mind mapping and collective efforts in effective planning, Friends With The Sun Would still be an only idea simply running through my mind as we speak.
Meteors Music Cornelius Blay Colette Adu Badu Dennis Boateng Michael Adu Amuse NeL Magnum Nana Yaa Serwaa-Osei Kwasi Boryo Adedayo Laketo Drvmroll Michael Aborah-Boateng
Elliot Afuah Rudolf Acolatse THE MANDEM Rexford Nyrk Harmattan Rain PLEGISHES Tseda Shop O B Kay Kenneth Essien Epidemix Ghost LXXXVIII Bryan Mensah
FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 22
Inspirations For This EP This is a list of people, brands, places and things that inspired me to make Friends With The Sun. Some of the names here, I know personally. The rest are pretty distant though. But hey, I'm just being honest here cos it really doesn't matter. Inspiration is inspiration right?
God Twinings Flavored Tea
Odunsi (The Engine) Christine, George, Jeffrey & Merlene Mensah
Raury John Alexander Arthur (Grandpa. RIP) Poland Kayso Kwasi 'Boryo' Ankrah Nana Kofi Asihene AYAT Apple Kuvie Travis Scott Adomaa
RJZ
Tshego Sound Cloud
Michael Power Colette Adu Badu AKA Azizi Gibson Ozzy B/Santi Antony Can-Tamakloe Fr. Campbell Jason Simpson Yellow T-Shirts (cos I Never owned one so it always looked special in my eyes) Mike Will Made-It Legon FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 23
Thank You For Experiencing ‘FRIENDS WITH THE SUN’ PART OF PROCEEDS FROM SALES OF THIS EP WILL BE DONATED TO SUPPORT WWW.THEPOTTERSVILLAGE.ORG
AVAILABLE ON
DOWNLOAD VIA MOBILE MONEY ON WWW.BRYANTHEMENSAH.COM
LYRICS AVAILABLE ON
GENIUS
& MUSIXMATCH
OFFICIAL MERCH SUPPLY AT WWW.TSEDASHOP.COM
FOLLOW @BRYANTHEMENSAH & @METEORSMUSIC ON TWITTER & INSTAGRAM FRIENDS WITH THE SUN DIGITAL BOOKLET - Page | 24