Beeztrap KOTM showcases his musical range on his debut album, ‘POWER’Beeztrap KOTM
Ghana’s place in African music cannot be understated. From evolving modern highlife to its melodious take on recent Afropop, the country has shape-shifted through the times in order to contribute to the musical conversation. In recent years, few movements from the continent have been as poignant and driven as Ghana drill, also known as Asakaa, the country’s own reinterpretation of the hip-hop drill sound..
Although popularized in faraway Chicago, artists from Ghana have given the thumping drill genre a sweet local flavor, bringing its sonic heft into the context of nearby scenarios. In Ghanaian drill, we see the gritty realities of places like the city of Kumasi, where many of Asakaa’s well-known artists hail from. In fact, the Kumasi suburb of Santasa reared Beeztrap KOTM, who would become one of the most dynamic artists to emerge from the culture, blending its realist storytelling with melodies sourced from different genres within Ghana and beyond.
Speaking with OkayAfrica, Beeztrap KOTM affirms drill’s popularity with Ghanaian youth. “Bro, drill resonates for most [youths] because of the originators of drill music in Ghana, Asakaa,” he says. “How they delivered, how they presented drill to us was a lifestyle. Like talking about your lifestyle, the things you do, what you go through, the daily activities in the ghetto or wherever you find yourself. I feel like most people can relate ‘cause these people are being real; they’re not hiding anything.”
One hears these influences on his sprawling debut album, POWER, which features star names like Sarkodie, Gyakie, Kwesi Arthur, Kuami Eugene, and more. He coined the title “[because] everybody has a special power,” Beeztrap KOTM explains. “God has given everyone a special power, and mine is how I come up with my music; how I connect with people through my music. And POWER because, when you listen to my album, it’s definitely not a one-way album.”
For Beeztrap, number eight represents power, so the album’s 16 songs reflect a “double power.” The album has been over two years in the making, with “BLOODLINE” being one of its earliest recordings. The opening record “POWER 10” bursts with a subtle fusion as a swing-along production and ripe melody merge into an audible Ghanaian sound. Its melody belongs more to the Ghanaian hiplife genre, and there’s a riveting touch of drums that don’t fully explode, which only brightens the record’s edges. On “ADVICE,” the groove is ostensibly Afropop, but a roll of Spanish guitar enlivens its multidimensional quality. The sing-song love ode “PALANQUIN” has a new-age sensibility, the kind you’ll find on TikTok reels, while album closer “NEVER FEAR” returns to the album’s central ethos of inspiration and strength.
Never one to hog the spotlight, POWER is a sterling showcase of Ghanaian music and its brightest proponents. As though welcoming Beeztrap into their halls, respected A-listers like Sarkodie and Gyakie feature on the album, with cult heroes such as Kweku Smoke and O’Kenneth repping for the drill scene. Vocal heavyweights Kuami Eugene and Olivetheboy also make the cut, but it’s the seamless blending of these figures that reveals a curator’s sensibility on the part of Beeztrap KOTM.
“Most of the collaborations, I reached out, and some of them, my team reached out,” he says about his all-star lineup. “Sarkodie, for instance, I reached out to him ‘cause Sarkodie is like a father to me. We did ‘Amen’ on his tape, so I also reached out that I had some songs for him. After I had the Kwesi Arthur verse on ‘Bang Bang Bang,’ I sent it to Sark, and within 24 hours, he sent a verse. Someone like Himra, we traveled to Côte d’Ivoire. I had to travel all the way there.”
These efforts paid off as POWER now belongs in an elite class of contemporary projects. At a time when few rappers orbit the central areas of popular relevance, putting out such a wide-ranging album with such features vivifies the potential in pairing African sounds with other sensibilities.
And even while the Ghana drill sound features prominently among those sensibilities, Beeztrap KOTM insists that he hasn’t made a drill album. “I love drill music ‘cause it brought me into the limelight,” he says, shouting out the Asakaa boys. “But POWER is not a drill tape. Of course, I have drill on it, but POWER is quite special and quite different. ‘Cause it has a touch of every genre.”
Speaking to Beeztrap KOTM, one perceives the mind of an avid music lover. Beyond album-spurred discussions, he’s just as eager to dissect the origins of a life in music, which we eventually get into. “I grew up in a family of music,” he says. “Growing up, my uncle had a studio, so even before I started recording, I knew my way around. I knew the process of how music is made and how every artist has their unique way of coming up and creating their sound. When I composed my first song, it was very simple compared to other artists because I knew what I was doing.”
It was back in 2014 that Beeztrap KOTM recorded his first song, which touched on genres like hiplife, Afrobeats, and dancehall. It would take some years before drill became a legitimate sound in Ghana. Honing his instincts by listening to the likes of Sarkodie and R2Bees, Beeztrap KOTM would go from rap to dancehall when Stonebwoyand Shatta Wale got into his rotation. “I think my sound has just been changing during these years,” he says, “‘cause I feel like I wanna try everything. I’ve tried every genre”.
One would have expected Beeztrap KOTM to be an excitable child from the start, but he describes that period as “very calm.” He was raised by a single mother in Santasi, a suburb of Kumasi. And though she was strict, he always got the support he needed to push through as a musician. “She’s one of my biggest fans,” he affirms now. “Growing up, my mom sang in a choir, my sister too, my brother used to rap, and I started rapping because of my brother. I just felt the love naturally.”
Hearing the artist talk, it’s clear the perspective POWER emerges from. It’s a body of work from a creative who’s juggled many tricks and knows how to handle them. Without any sense of being overwhelmed, he gives us a project that’s easy to root for. “This album means a lot to me and I just want the whole world to hear it,” he says. “I just want to push this, POWER must be everywhere because it’s very powerful.”
