Sarkodie says rapping in Twi is the secret weapon behind his global success. The rapper explained why he chose his mother tongue over English during an appearance on The Fuse on Kenya’s Capital FM, a clip of which the station shared in a post on X on Wednesday, 4 November.
“I think that’s my blessing. That’s my power. That’s my mother tongue. I express myself way better, and the emotions I want to put out come across best when I rap in Twi,” Sarkodie said, as reported by Pulse Ghana.
He revealed that he started out rapping in English but never felt fully confident doing so. “I started rapping in English but felt like I was beneath someone when I rap in English. But when I rap in Twi, I feel equal to any other rapper in the world,” he said, according to Nigeria’s Daily Post.
Sarkodie also recalled that some people in Ghana once believed Twi would limit how far his music could travel. He pointed to his record as proof that it did not. “If Sarkodie was able to use Twi to go and take the BET Award and bring it back home and sell out the Royal Albert Hall, and [is] about to sell out the O2, I think everything else that you believe in, just keep believing in that,” he said, per Pulse Ghana.
The rapper added that he wants his journey to give hope to anyone who feels different. “I just want to be able to give that hope to whoever sounds different. Whether it’s in any other business or you’re coming up with different ideas, I think you have to be very stubborn about it and go and get it,” he said.
Pulse Ghana noted that he also spoke, with some amusement, about foreign fans, particularly listeners in Nigeria, who try to sing along to his Twi lyrics.
The interview came during Sarkodie’s visit to East Africa. As we reported last week, the rapper is visiting Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria, though not to perform.
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