US-based Ghanaian rapper and PhD candidate KooKusi has had his “This Ability” EP accepted into the CARE – Culture for Mental Health Project, an EU co-funded initiative that catalogues artistic works engaging with health, well-being, and social inclusion for circulation across European cultural events.
KooKusi, born Nana Kofi Kusi-Boadum, released “This Ability” in September 2025 as a four-track project inspired by the life of Ghanaian basketball player, coach, and entrepreneur Emmanuel “Clock” Ekow Amoako, who lives with anisomelia, a limb length discrepancy.
The EP chronicles Amoako’s journey from self-doubt to becoming a sensational sporting figure. It weaves together hip-hop, spoken word, choral arrangements, and an interview excerpt into a cohesive narrative arc.
The project marks KooKusi’s fourth body of work and continues a yearly series exploring insecurity and mental health that began with his 2022 debut “5foot3.” Where earlier projects examined his own struggles with an inferiority complex, “This Ability” turns outward, using Amoako’s story to reframe disability as a site of strength rather than stigma. A recurring thread in KooKusi’s parallel career as a neuroscience PhD candidate who treats music as a form of science communication.
Its inclusion in the CARE catalogue places “This Ability” alongside artworks selected for their engagement with mental health, well-being, and social inclusion themes, built to support the circulation of such work throughout cultural events across Europe. The CARE project, co-funded by the European Union, brings together stakeholders from the culture, health, education, and business sectors across nine European countries, with the broader goal of using arts and cultural experiences to support mental health among young people, working adults, and people with disabilities.
For KooKusi, the recognition extends a project that was always intended to travel beyond Ghana: a deeply local story, rooted in a Ghanaian sporting icon’s resilience, now positioned within a European framework built to amplify exactly that kind of work.
