Chance The Rapper And Vic Mensa Announce New Music Festival In Ghana

Written by Vocalo Radio on July 18, 2022

^{Featured image courtesy of @vicmensa}

Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa return to Ghana with big plans for the future…

Over the weekend, Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, currently on a trip to Ghana, revealed their extensive plan to help build cultural bridges between the U.S. and the West African Nation. The two artists announced a brand new music festival to take place in Ghana, which they said will feature local Ghanaian artists as well as globally famous performers.

The event has been dubbed the “Black Star Line Festival,” a name which simultaneously highlights Black American history and Ghanaian history. The Black Star Line was initially a Black-owned and operated shipping company instituted by Marcus Garvey in 1919 with the intention of connecting America, the Caribbean and Africa. 40 years later, Ghana gave its own shipping fleet the same name in honor of Garvey. The flag of Ghana also has a black star in its center, representing African emancipation.

*^{Chance the Rapper by Morgan Ciocca / Vocalo Radio, Chicago Public Media}*

Chance and Mensa, who both trace parts of their lineage back to the nation, made a previous visit to Ghana in January, bringing Chicago teenagers with them and meeting with Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo. While there, Chance tweeted about plans to return in July with a bigger group, highlighting that this year will mark the 65th anniversary of Ghana earning their independence from Great Britain. Mensa elaborated on what his work with Chance means to him in an instagram post.

“There are some things about yourself that you can only understand by knowing where you come from,” Mensa said. “Our dream is to build bridges that cross the ocean of divide created by the transatlantic slave trade. Today we are one step closer to actualizing that dream.”

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The Black Star Line festival will take place on January 6, 2023. More information is expected in the future. And look out for Vocalo’s deep dive conversation with Chance the Rapper (including more on his connection to Ghana) dropping later this week.