Before gaining global recognition, M.anifest — born Kwame Ametepee Tsikata — had already cemented his name in African hip-hop. When The Guardian named him Africa’s foremost rapper in 2015, it felt like the mainstream was finally catching up to what many had long known. By 2016, he released Nowhere Cool, a critically acclaimed concept album that resonated deeply with West African youth, including me, inspiring many to find and amplify their voices — whether conventional or unorthodox.
A decade and three albums later, success may come easier, but M.anifest’s music remains grounded, vintage, and deeply connected to the grassroots. His sound keeps you present, forcing reflection on both self and society. His latest project, NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES, released under hip-hop icon Nas’ Mass Appeal Records, is no exception.
At a time when hip-hop’s tides have shifted — where rappers often chase commercial success by recreating pop hits — M.anifest stands firm in his artistry. The 42-year-old is carving his own path, determined to be a powerful alternative voice that brings rich, relatable African narratives to the heart of global rap storytelling.
With this new album, M.anifest tells me he’s in his “world domination” era — something he speaks about with both excitement and conviction.
In our conversation, we dive deep into themes of urgency, creative agency, his inspirations, the evolution of African hip-hop, and what it means to be an alternative voice in the mainstream.
What is the story behind the first track, “TIME CATCH”?
“TIME CATCH” is about seizing the moment. The idea is that time is ever present for us; it’s time to make a thing. For me, who’s been doing what I’ve been doing for a long time, I think I felt that sense of urgency in terms of being on a very steady trajectory and being able to make contributions, but I felt like there’s a maturation.
It’s almost like you’re making Akpeteshie, a method where palm wine ferments, and there’s a maturation process for it to become the hard liquor. That’s where I feel like I am now. I have gained all this experience, musicality and all. It’s time to have a global reach because I have everything it takes.
But yeah, there’s this kind of urgency in which our lives revolve around because the future is being shaped and the way that our countries are mismanaged. Individuals always wake up with that sense of urgency. You’re going against the grain. You might have park problems, transportation problems, and a shortage of red tape bureaucracy. So, I think that’s why it was necessary to begin that with “Fire on this mountain,” even though it’s a personal feeling.
In the same song, after you sing “Fire on the mountain,” you continue with “Flames so exciting.” Why?
“Flames so exciting” because there’s excitement, and I don’t mean that negatively. There’s an excitement that comes with that urgency and you just have to embrace it and find a way.
The second song on the album, “EYE RED,” describes anger and frustration. Are you speaking for the people?
There are two stories behind it. There’s the sonic story of it, which is where it began. One of my producers, MikeMillzOn‘Em, and I were creating the song from scratch, and I asked him to look for a couple of percussion loops. So, he went through his sound bank and mistakenly clicked on something with the horns. I said, “Wait. What the fuck is that? Yo, guy, just mark that.” I wanted it to be innovative, and that’s how it feels, with a different kind of bass and elements that just pronounce the feeling of an anthem for the desperate voices and the desperate feelings to overcome.
My state of mind when we made the song had that urgency. It’s why the song is relatable and feels immediate. It’s a song we can make twenty times over regarding these feelings of anger and frustration. When we make music like this, it must feel like it needs to move people. So, it had to have that pulsating feeling. It’s not supposed to be a dirge or lullaby — it should be something the people can rally behind.
When I make albums, I always say that there’s a song that’s like decorating a place. It’s like interior decoration. If you’re going to decorate a living room, you need a centerpiece, right? It might be a couch, a table, or something that informs how you set up everything. “EYE RED” is the one for this album. Immediately, I made it, I knew where everything else would go.
How do these feelings tie into the entire album and its title NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES?
These are the feelings that most of us wake up with when we live on this side [of the world]. People are trying to make a life for themselves in places that seem to be working against them.
The title is personal in terms of an individual memory. When I was younger, I lived in a place called New Road (in Ghana), but it’s metaphorical in terms of trying to take a new road and making a fruitful climb. My house had a guava tree, and I used to climb it quite a lot. It was one of my favourite trees because it was easy to climb and also had fruits. It was just a trigger point regarding the idea of a fruitful climb.
Were you also intentional about the production? It’s avant-garde.
The whole album was put together because I called my guy Budo. He used to be my main producer, but we hadn’t worked together for fourteen years. In that time, he’s done stuff for Doja Cat, Macklemore, and more. And then I’ve done my thing, too. We reconnected when I released my Medina to the Universe album in 2021.
Sometime in the beginning of 2023, I was trying to make a new album. I discussed it with my manager and others, and it felt like the world drew me to Budo. So, I called him and told him that I felt an immense creative energy and I wanted to work on a project and ideas that’d be bigger. Making that connection and getting in sync with the ideas worked for this album and its production. We finished most of the album in three to four weeks in Seattle. We just corrected and refined some things over time.
This new album art weirdly connects me to your Nowhere Cool album art
There’s a parallel there. It was uncanny. After NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES was done, I took a look and realised the kind of continuum it was then. However, we approached this artwork intending to just play into African reality. All our leaders are commissioner generals, and they’re always commissioning things. We felt taking on a character on the cover was important to embody that.
It’s a bit of satire because we’re commissioning a new road on the cover. Regarding the album, I’m taking a new road and doing that with all earnestness.
Does African literature impact the new album like Nowhere Cool?
Not directly. But I remember when I was floating the album title to a few friends of mine, one comment was like, “This feels like a book title,” and I like that. I fed into that idea a bit in terms of just the aesthetic of everything. But I’m a person who’s definitely informed by the pantheon of the Chinua Achebes and the Ama Ata Aidoos. [whose Nowhere Cool novel inspired M.anifest’s Nowhere Cool album.]
Speaking of books, what are you currently reading?
I was supposed to finish The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It’s an easy read. I started, but I got distracted. A friend of mine bought it for me, so I was checking it out. However, I need to get Nnedi Okorafor’s new book, Death of the Author. I’m travelling soon, so I’ll get it. That’s what I’m going to be reading.
Anyway, the last thing I read was a re-read a few days ago. It’s a two-hour read about Anderson .Paak and the family he comes from. I will send it to you.
Also, I recently realised that my new album and one of my favourite books ever, The Fragrance of Guava (by Gabriel García Márquez), have similar titles.
What impact do you hope NEW ROAD AND GUAVA TREES makes?
I truly believe that the energy in which one creates and how one feels is infectious. I’m currently in a very effortless, intentional, and confident phase. And that energy is going to be contagious in terms of how the music is received. So, this is going to be a more global outlook in terms of reception. I’ll work hard to ensure that happens in terms of marketing, promotion, and other things. Also, Mass Appeal has been super helpful with the album push. That boosts my confidence about it.
The Mass Appeal Records deal for this album is a huge one. Tell me about it
Shout-out to Lanre Masha, the current director at Orchid Music. He put the play together and made the connection between Mass Appeal and myself.
As a non-conforming artist who isn’t following the mainstream’s rulebook, what would you do differently if you were new on the scene right now?
That’s an excellent question, my brother, and I have such a long answer for you.
I have a theory right now that we’re heading towards a place where the most successful section will be the one that makes the most meaningful music, which will also be jams.
Please, expound
Some of the things that people think we should create for escape, we already have it in us. When you’re going to make a jam, you want to be able to bop. So, nobody’s going to tell you to break a bop. It’s intuitive for us to a certain degree. We don’t even have to force that so much. But this kind of one-way mentality of everybody trying to be in the club, trying to pop champagne or whatever, is rubbish.
Africans have been making jams to escape, but they can still say something. So, I think there has to be a fearlessness that I’d encourage anybody who’s super creative like there has to be a fearlessness. There has to be a “Fuck it” attitude to begin with.
But then, there’s the other aspect that comes after you do it over and over and try to figure out your hacks. Back then, the hacks were like the chorus, the hook. Then, some people came, and they did whatever they wanted to do. In some eras, it was the beats. Now, it’s finding moments of ideas that stick. In this era of TikTok, hooks are not even worth anything much. Sometimes, it’s a different part of a song that catches on.
I’m just saying there are hacks that everybody can find for themselves, and it might take ten years to hack. For some, it might be fifteen. But everybody wants it tomorrow. That’s the problem. Of course, people want to eat. I get that. But there has to be a way of figuring out hacks that are not always immediate. The majority of people are not going to have an overnight blow-up. Most people have a longer, steady trajectory of building a base, and then they can eat.
What will you say African Hip-Hop needs to be a part of the global conversations?
African Hip-Hop, like any other African music, will always need a level of innovation and identity to be seen in the world. Those two things—identity and innovation—together make things seen.
Innovation is the thing that makes people say, “That’s incredible”, or as “What is that?” Identity is part of that innovation. But it’s also something that firstly makes the people who the music is from feel like this belongs to them to a certain degree. And when I say the people, I don’t even mean everybody. It can even be a small niche of people. It could be just skateboarders in Africa. I don’t mind. I think those two things are essential.
If you notice, Hip-Hop is probably the most influential music on Afrobeats, even Amapiano. Many of the guys who make this music used to be rappers, but they found a musical identity with something. In that same fashion, if you’re a Hip-Hop artist from Africa, you should think about the cool and innovative you’re trying to do, the identity of the thing you’re trying to create, and how to craft it without it being contrived. We can’t let innovation be something that only those in other genres do by being inspired by Hip-Hop.
