Rocky Dawuni’s “GRAMMY Nomination Celebration Concert” held on December 11, 2021 was EPIC!! The concert was in celebration of Rocky’s second nomination for “Best Global Music Album” for his “Voice of Bunbon, Vol. 1” for the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Rocky was previously nominated in 2016 for “Best Reggae Album.” His nomination in two different categories is a first for his native Ghana. Rocky’s signature “Afro Roots” sound is a mixture of Reggae, Highlife, Afrobeat, Soul, Pop and more. This unique sound was on full display at the concert with songs celebrating all of these beautiful genres of music with Rocky’s special touch in the mix to link them all together.
Rocky brought out his dynamic 10-piece band to the intimate +233 Jazz Bar & Grill in Accra, Ghana clad in gorgeous Afro Centric costumes designed by Ghanaian fashion label Juju Eye. The crowd of all ages and ethnicities danced the night away under the stars to the uncompromising groove which served as a foundation to his catchy melodies, well-crafted songs and sing along choruses. The diplomatic community of Ghana came out in force including many country ambassadors, cultural attaches as well as luminaries from the Ghanaian music and film scene.
Yazmeen Helwani, daughter of legendary Ghanaian music producer Faisal Helwani opened the show with a lovely acoustic set anchored by guitarist Ras Bomba. The show was hosted by Okay FM’s Abeiku Santana and songstress Enam with DJ Stych entertaining the crowd in between sets. Rocky followed with an electrifying performance that took the crowd on a musical journey from his roots Reggae classics, to deep highlife cuts, to Afro Roots anthems. Renown Ghanaian poet, Nana Asaase joined Rocky for a spontaneous spoken word interlude during a rendition of Alhaji K. Frimpong’s Highlife classic “Kyenkyen Bi Adi Mawu” which was covered on Rocky’s last full-length album “Beats of Zion” (Six Degrees.)
Some of the reactions to the show:
“It was a fantastic show and we had an awesome time!”
“We were in the hands of a supreme professional, a true artist…it felt so good to be in the presence of first class live music and be dancing to it!”
Media sponsors were Beenie Words, TV3, One Play Africa, Asaase Radio, Ghana Music, Ameyaw Debrah, Blagogee, Kobby Kyei and Ghana Web.
