{"id":419516,"date":"2017-09-18T03:52:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T03:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2017\/09\/18\/a-sark-full-of-glory-the-highest-album-review\/"},"modified":"2017-09-18T03:52:52","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T03:52:52","slug":"a-sark-full-of-glory-the-highest-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/09\/18\/a-sark-full-of-glory-the-highest-album-review\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018Sark\u2019 full of glory: The \u2018Highest\u2019 album review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"medsection1\">\n<!-- End of html generated by this->header() --><\/p>\n<p class=\"floatLeft\">Music of Monday, 18 September 2017<\/p>\n<p class=\"floatRight\"><strong>Source: <\/strong>enewsgh.com<\/p>\n<p>2017-09-18<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-left\">\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/84427016.295.jpg\" alt=\"Sarkodie Highest Cover\" title=\"Sarkodie Highest Cover\" width=\"295\" height=\"295\" \/><span class=\"play-icon\">play video<\/span><span class=\"image_caption\"><span>Sarkodie &#8216;Highest&#8217;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"clear:right\"> While Sarkodie\u2019s catalogue easily sets him apart as a remarkably gifted rapper, he has proven just as fertile with dance-ready anthems. Since his 2009 debut Makye (DuncWills), the BET laureate has made a bold case for African hiphop, dispensing regular bountiful fits of dizzying, dazzling, and clever wordplay.<\/p>\n<p>Justly, it has secured him a place among topmost names of this era. At the same time, the man is an expert in dance-ready hits: Baby, You Go Kill Me, Pon The Ting, Adonai, RNS, Fa Sor Hor, Gboza etc. A lyrical phenom, Sarkodie is both Jack and master of many trades. This is why his fifth album Highest (SarkCess, 2017) was anticipated feverishly by all of Africa. Consisting 18 songs, it was published on September 8.<\/p>\n<p>The CD follows Mary (SarkCess, 2015), which was published to immense critical praise. The project is a moving highlife album, which is also tribute to his grandmother Mary Lokko. Co-written by label-mate Akwaboah Jnr., it was swiftly touted as his most ingenious submission yet. Does Highest knock it off that pedestal? Most certainly not. Still, this new album is one fine piece of work.<\/p>\n<p>It was led with Painkiller (ft. Runtown), which is listed as a bonus track. According to the rapper (born Michael Owusu Addo), the album title best encapsulates his current state of mind.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NtwfYRFi1wE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But when has the rapper never felt like the highest? If there\u2019s one thing Sarkodie is known for in the past ten years or so that he\u2019s done music professionally, it is his flair with braggadocio. It is what the culture of hip-hop requires, and he has studied to show himself approved. It seems pointless to list examples of songs which are strewn with infinite adulation of himself and his abilities, as it will mean citing nearly everything he has released but the Mary album. Still, there lingers an itch:  New Guy, Lay Away, Saa Okodie No, Hand to Mouth, Illuminati, Oluwa is Involved, Rap Attack, Original, Preach, Take it Back, Kanta, Return Of the Spartans, Bossy\u2026<\/p>\n<p><b><\/b>Review: On 10 of Sarkodie\u2019s best<\/p>\n<p>There features a sufficient amount of conceit on the album, as can be noticed on Silence, We No Dey Fear, Highest, Light it Up, and Certified. But more than that, the work navigates \u201chigher\u201d themes such as notions of beauty and self-worth, focus and dedication, faith, and the subsequent recognition which crowns hard work.<\/p>\n<p>And so, a song like Glory (ft. Yung L) bears great significance. Track 18 on the project, it is also easily the most loved number so far. Accentuated by delicate saxophone melody over what is essentially highlife, the song feels like church, and calls to memory another Sarkodie classic \u2013 Adonai (ft. Castro).  Adonai and Glory  bear similar themes: there\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel, especially if God is involved. Accompanying visuals  for Glory (directed by IK?NE) depict the exact point desire metamorphoses into reality. Rendered in compelling black-and white, it shows the rapper, his partner Tracy, daughter Titi, and members constituting the nucleus of the \u201cSarkCess\u201d team reveling in the good life made possible by his consistency atop the throne.<\/p>\n<p>Glory works flawlessly as what the album comes down to: no matter where you are, dreams do manifest if you keep at them, and are patient and resilient enough to see them come to pass. Thus, after citing a certain Kwame Boadi, one of the many doubters of his elaborate vision, and having fought off many battles over his career and emerged victorious, he can afford to declare:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKing Sark till I die\/ nobody can ever pull me down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z8klADY7qIk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Highest is as much a rap album as it is melodic, something made possible by the layered approach of a typical Jayso production. Born Paul Nuamah Donkor, Jayso (who\u2019s also listed as Executive Producer for the project) is widely considered a key player in Ghanaian hip-hop, especially for his inroads with the Skillions. Especially since the beef with M.anifest  last year, one could argue that Sarkodie has felt the need to reassert himself as a prized lyricist, or at least remind all that while he strays occasionally, his feet remain firmly rooted in hardcore rap, and he does that conclusively in Highest. The nifty act he is, he serves the Afrobeat constituency a number of songs too: Overdose, Your Waist, Far Away, All Night.<\/p>\n<p>There may not be a \u201cmassive hit\u201d on the album, at least judging by the rapper\u2019s own standard, again, referring to such songs as You Go Kill Me, Pon The Ting, Adonai, RNS, Fa Sor Hor, and Gboza. All songs on there require repeated play to fully engage with and properly appreciate \u2013which is how albums should be consumed anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Regular collaborators Efya, Mugeez, and Akwaboah are absent on this Sarkodie album, and that is note-worthy as they have served as central sonic complements for him over time. Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Strongman Burner is also missing. Instead, Sarkodie experiments with Victoria Kimani, Moelogo, Praiz, Korede Bello, Jesse Jagz, Bobii Lewis among others. The result is impressive.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9YA17_UHz1s\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Highest is one for the grown man. It is not as vulnerable as Jay- Z\u2019s 4:44 for instance, but it is personal enough \u2014 more personal than Sarkodie has ever been. Notice how closely he holds Titi to his heart on the cover, the earnest with which he beholds her perfect eyes. Observe how flagrantly he worships the many sides of wife Tracy, very carnally and most notably on Baby Mama (ft. Joey B). And indeed, the nuance with with he remembers his journey.<\/p>\n<p>There are even deeper interiors he can venture, and we expect that of him with time. On this project though, Sarkodie proves that he\u2019s unafraid to confront his very depths. He has it in him. And if you really think about it, he\u2019s always possessed this trait.<\/p>\n<p>*Highest is Sarkodie\u2019s fifth album after Makye (2009), Rapperholic (2012), Sarkology (2014), Mary (2015).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/84180745.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!-- uploaded by: 31 updated by: -1 --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Start of html generated by this->footer() -->\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a style=\"display:none\" rel=\"follow\" href=\"http:\/\/megatheme.ir\/\" title=\"\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633\">\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Music of Monday, 18 September 2017 Source: enewsgh.com 2017-09-18 play videoSarkodie &#8216;Highest&#8217; While Sarkodie\u2019s catalogue easily sets him apart as a remarkably gifted rapper, he has proven just as fertile with dance-ready anthems. Since his 2009 debut Makye (DuncWills), the BET laureate has made a bold case for African hiphop, dispensing regular bountiful fits of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A \u2018Sark\u2019 full of glory: The \u2018Highest\u2019 album review - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2017\/09\/18\/a-sark-full-of-glory-the-highest-album-review\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"A \u2018Sark\u2019 full of glory: The \u2018Highest\u2019 album review - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Music of Monday, 18 September 2017 Source: enewsgh.com 2017-09-18 play videoSarkodie &#8216;Highest&#8217; While Sarkodie\u2019s catalogue easily sets him apart as a remarkably gifted rapper, he has proven just as fertile with dance-ready anthems. 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