In Where Do We Go From Here, the Ghanaian superstar steps into a new era, one filled with growth, honest reflections and a deeper appreciation for the pains and delights of growing up.
Nelson C.J.NelsonC.J.Lagos-Based West Africa Correspondent
For KiDi’s career, 'Where Do We Go From Here' answers an important question he began asking himself as he neared 10 years in the music industry: what happens after a dream comes true?Courtesy of KiDi Music.
“When you are the one driving the truck of your whole career, you sometimes don't pause to check the temperature of the car because you're focusing on what's next,” KiDi says a few minutes into our interview. It’s a day after the release of his third studio album, Where Do We Go From Here, and KiDi (real name Dennis Nana Kwaku Boadi Dwamena) is in an upbeat mood as we connect on a virtual call.
Perhaps owing to the release of this new project, KiDi’s voice is also laced with relief, the sort that might come from someone who knew they would eventually arrive at the end of a finish line, but hadn’t accounted for how convoluted the race track would be. “When you are creating something amazing and have to sit on it for so long, you itch for people to hear it, and when it finally comes out, [it’s like] having your baby finally out,” the Ghanaian superstar tells OkayAfrica.
Where Do We Go From Here is a project that matters to KiDi in many ways. For his career, it answers an important question he began asking himself as he neared 10 years in the music industry: what happens after a dream comes true?
Having reached numerous milestones, counting his two previous albums, Sugar (2019) and The Golden Boy (2021), his EPs and his stack of awards, Where Do We Go From Here offers KiDi a chance to take stock. The album, doused in themes of love, life and existential reflections, gives the 33-year-old time to park the fast car he’s been driving since the release of “Say You Love Me,” his first hit released in 2017; it gives him space to check the hood and appraise the state and impact of the car itself.
“Sometimes you forget to step outside of yourself and just appreciate how far you've come,” KiDi says. Just recently, a fan account posted the second song KiDi had ever recorded online, which KiDi says took him all the way back to a time in his career where his dreams were different, and his life was so much leaner than it is now. “I don't know how they found it, but they posted it the night before the album came out, and it just reminded me that, truly, I have come a long way. It's been a hell of a journey. The ups, the downs, the forward, the backs, they've all contributed to all the lessons I've learned along the way.”
In “Crucified”, featuring Kwesi Arthur, KiDi lays a claim over his peace, playing the role of the crucified and a willing agitator where necessary.Courtesy of KiDi Music.
This sentiment of reflection and of penning a new chapter manifests itself in this album more metaphorically than thematically. In his sound, in his delivery and in the way he handles subject matter, KiDi exhibits a gleaming maturity and a sleeker sense of collectedness. His swagger and loverboy texture are intact, but his ability to articulate his vulnerability has expanded.
In “Lonely”, featuring AratheJay, he pines after a love interest, expressing his feelings with an openness that can sometimes be disarming in an age of performative romantic disinterest. In “Crucified”, featuring Kwesi Arthur, he lays a claim over his peace, playing the role of the crucified and a willing agitator where necessary. It’s a self-aware position that expands the soul of the album. In “Dreams” he sings plainly of tiredness, of feeling adrift whilst trying to find reassurance inside himself. This track is one of his most heartfelt, dipped in a steady groundedness and willing, against all odds, to present KiDi in his full humanity. It also works brilliantly as a closer to an album that starts with mirth and closes out with a more sober tone. Meanwhile, “Confession” follows the vulnerable, pained lover position that can be gleaned from “Lonely.”
What is especially refreshing about Where Do We Go From Here is the recurring sense of surrender: to love, to life, to God, to the sense of not knowing exactly how things will turn out but knowing exactly what it is you’re looking for.
KiDi is a man who isn’t merely asking how much he has changed; he is an artist curious about his capacity for evolution.
“Love is not always, hey, I love you, you love me too, let's go away. There are layers to love and relationship and romance that we brought to this project.”Courtesy of KiDi Music.
On growing
There are many things KiDi no longer deems important. This is the greatest illustration of how much he has evolved. “One of the things that I used to care about a lot was people's perspective of me, people's idea of me,” KiDi shares. “And everything I did, every interview I did, every appearance I did, I was always in my mind trying to shape that, trying to take on that burden of shaping how people perceive me. But as time went on, I realised that my focus should not be on them because there's no way I can control how they see me. I can only control who and what I am and how I am. And if I know within myself that I'm not doing anything wrong and I'm stepping into my true self, they will be fine, you know. Be yourself. Everybody else will be fine, you know?”
In this project, it was important to KiDi to come at familiar subjects through new angles. “A lot of the love songs that we sang on this project came from a different perspective, something you might not have heard from KiDi before,” he admits.
“Love is not always, ‘hey, I love you, you love me too, let's go away.’ There are layers to love and relationship and romance that we brought to this project. There's also the vulnerability of growing up. On a song like ‘Lord Knows’ I spoke about how, all of us growing up had dreams and things we wanted to achieve, and where our 20s were going.”
“At the end of the day, I just want people to feel all the things I want them to feel, from love to growth to romance to betrayal to protection,” says KiDi.Courtesy of KiDi Music.
The song, KiDi adds, is also a call to remember that it is never too late to arrive at or pursue that dream. It’s a powerful proposition that considers music an essential emotional complement. As he puts it, “music is our emotions simplified.” As KiDi faces himself in this project, looking at high and low points, trying to make sense of where it goes next, his one hope for the people who listen to this project is that they remember everything will be fine.
“At the end of the day, I just want people to feel all the things I want them to feel, from love to growth to romance to betrayal to protection. I want you to feel all of these things. And at the end of the day, everything will be fine. It seems simple, but we can't even remember some of the problems we were stressed about last week because we are still here, and these problems come and go.”
And for all of the delight and ambitious arc of Where Do We Go From Here, this is the greatest message and kindest gift KiDi is giving himself as he transitions into a new phase of his life and career.
