{"id":20459,"date":"2023-07-17T18:21:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T18:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=20459"},"modified":"2026-01-18T19:08:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:08:32","slug":"art-should-be-fearless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/art-should-be-fearless\/","title":{"rendered":"“Art Should Be Fearless”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Catherine Kane ’26 \/ Photo by Runchen Liu ’26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was in Turck Hall in 2003 that Kwame Ametepee Tsikata \u201905 recorded a song for the first time, with none other than present-day Bon Iver band manager Nate Vernon \u201907.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This April, Tsikata\u2014now a preeminent Ghanaian rapper and record producer professionally known as M.anifest\u2014came back to campus to perform at the Program Board\u2019s annual Springfest. A day before the performance, he sat down with a dozen students in an intimate Q&A moderated by Ariel McGuire \u201926 to discuss his college experience, creative process, and global rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating with an economics degree, Tsikata stuck around the Twin Cities making records and connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought I left college, but I entered another one,\u201d he says of his time learning the ropes of the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He first got the attention of record labels when a song he recorded was used in a Pepsi commercial, and the royalties gave him the financial freedom to pursue music full time. After a few years in the Twin Cities, he moved back to Ghana, and began to build his network again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy entire career has been a series of intentional accidents,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsikata became obsessed with the music-making process: watching YouTube tutorials, collaborating with more established artists, and even visiting the factories that were making his records. An independent artist, Tsikata doesn\u2019t have a large marketing budget, but that isn\u2019t an issue: \u201cWhat you lack in marketing budget, you can make up for in creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A UNICEF ambassador, Tsikata advocates for adolescent girls on issues like child marriage and gender-based violence. He also supports the arts through various projects and funds in Minneapolis and Ghana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn education and music are not separate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He encouraged students to pursue music if it\u2019s their passion, even inviting a student during the Q&A to freestyle a few lines for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArt should be fearless.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rapper and record producer Kwame Ametepee Tsikata \u201905\u2013aka M.anifest\u2013took the stage at Springfest.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1077,"featured_media":20557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-student-life","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t