Kwame Ametepee Tsikata[1] (born 20 November 1982), known professionally as M.anifest is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer. M.anifest is the son of Ghanaian lawyer and academician Tsatsu Tsikata and Rev. Dr. Priscilla Naana Nketia, a lawyer and pastor. His maternal grandfather Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia was a composer, professor and ethnomusicologist. M.anifest emigrated to the United States in 2001 to attend Macalester College in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, where he graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. M.anifest went to high school at SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College in Tema. He was the entertainment prefect of his school known as Amet Tsikata. He has had artist residencies and given lectures in St. Lawrence University and the University of Ghana, and spoken to several classes in Hamline University, (his Alma mater) Macalester College, Penumbra Theater’s Summer Arts Institute and Ashesi University. In his time in the Twin Cities, M.anifest learnt the nitty-gritty bits of becoming an independent musician.[7] He lent his voice to a Pepsi jingle that played nationally on U.S radio,[8] which earned him royalties to produce and release his first solo album, Manifestations, in 2007. That album earned him the “Songwriter of the Year” honors in the City Pages[9] as well as top five albums of the year recognition in the Star Tribune.[10] In 2009 he released a free album, The Birds and the Beats, to raise awareness and funds for the work of a non-profit, Young Entrepreneurs Africa. In 2010, M.anifest linked up with Africa Express and toured France and Spain with them. He caught the attention of Africa Express co-founder Damon Albarn who thereafter invited M.anifest to be a collaborator on Rocket Juice & the Moon the following year.[1] In September 2012, M.anifest joined the Africa Express train touring the United Kingdom.[12] He wrote for The Huffington Post about these experiences. He released his sophomore album Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America in September 2011, which included the singles “Suffer”, “Asa” and “Blue (Chale What Dey Happen)”. It marked a decade of his life in the U.S. and the beginning of his transition back to Ghana.[14] In 2012, M.anifest began making major inroads in Africa performing on The Big Brother Africa stage[15] as well at the Channel O Music Video Awards in South Africa.[16] The video for his single “Makaa Maka” also got him nominated for Most Gifted Hip-Hop Video at the 2012 Channel O Music Awards[17] and won him Best Hip-Hop Video at the locally-held 4Syte Music Video Awards. M.anifest produced and co-wrote an independence mini Hip-Hopera[19] for Channel O and also performed a piece,[20] at the first-ever Ghana Music Week, detailing the history of Ghanaian music. M.anifest is the co-founder of Giant Steps,[21] an interactive conference for entrepreneurial creatives and creative entrepreneurs. He is also included in the feature-length documentary We Rock Long Distance[22] by filmmaker Justin Schell. On 30 June 2016, M.anifest released a diss track to fellow rapper Sarkodie titled “god MC”. Sarkodie replied within two days with a diss track of his own called “Kanta”, which was a Panda cover. M.anifest’s god MC went on to win Hip Hop Song of the year in the Ghana Music Award the following year. Two years later on 24 December 2018, the two officially squashed their beef with Sarkodie performing[23] at M.anifest’s yearly Manifestivies concert in Accra. On June 18, 2020, the two cemented their friendship with Sarkodie featuring M.anifest on his politically conscious track, Brown Paper Bag. The song was met with mixed reaction, with popular music critic, Gabriel Myers Hansen, bemoaning its lack of dance rhythm. “Bereft of hooks, the instrumentation of the song is crafted with chords that fend off dance; instead inducing a frightful, contemplative atmosphere complete with doomy humming and the blast of gunshots. Insofar as this facilitates the discussion it hosts, it is fit for purpose. After all, this is not a forum for the fainthearted.
