About Jollof Beats

Jollof Beats is a music project and a publication. The music comes first: songs, music films, and history documentaries, published on YouTube — among them “More Water In My Cup,” the Ghana Kingdoms films, and the Sundiata season.

Around the music, this site keeps two written wings. Stories is writing down the history behind the films and the meanings behind the songs — the films are up now; the written companions are in preparation. The Editorial is the serious wing: long-form commentary on Ghana — what is holding the country back, argued with evidence and taken all the way down to the philosophical and spiritual root. Systems are criticised; people and peoples are not attacked. Every piece has to end with what would actually fix the problem, or it does not run.

One editorial and one story a week — that is the rhythm this site is building to.

Readers can join in. Sign in with Google and you can react to pieces, follow the wings you care about, and comment under them. Comments are moderated — argue the idea, attack no group — and everything here stays readable without an account.