Singer/songwriter Knii Lante is an eternally-evolving artiste and his latest song, ‘Open Mic’, is assertion of his drive to remain relevant and contemporary.
Featuring Flowking Stone of Bradez fame, the song incorporates
highlife and dancehall elements rendered with the same passion Knii Lante put into his previous award-winning tracks.
This latest musical statement shows him returning to the pop-tainted, romantic love-flavoured disposition expressed in his early outings. At the same time, he tackles ‘Open Mic’ with the skill of an artiste very much at the top of his abilities.
“I’m growing all the time. ‘Open Mic’ is another example of my constantly expanding vision. I have always been open to all sorts of influences and that is why I have never been a one-sided act,” Knii Lante revealed.
A feel-good love song targeted at all who appreciate different strands of contemporary popular music, ‘Open Mic’ leans a lot toward highlife.
Knii Lante’s reggae/dancehall traits are, however, also present for some ‘irie’ feel. Flowking brings the track even closer home with his well-calculated Twi raps.
When Knii Lante was asked why he didn’t feature Ghanaian artistes on his songs after they had heard him work with top Jamaican reggae stars like Queen Ifrica, G Blunt and Cherine Anderson, he said, “There’s no specific criterion as to who to feature. Me and my team at Deluge Entertainment listen to which ever song is to be recorded and we brainstorm about whose style would fit it best. For ‘Open Mic’, the lot fell rightly on Flowking.”
The song was recorded at Genius Selection Studio, Dansoman in Accra.
Other musicians who helped with the work are Dominic Quachie (guitar), Tino (trumpet) and Lamisi (backing vocals).
Followers of Knii Lante’s music career will not be disappointed with the accompanying video for ‘Open Mic’.
It was shot in an urban environment with an eye on placing it in a sort of international setting. The scenes flow with a lot of mixed race and Caucasian characters.
“We are tired of presenting highlife as a thing of the past. We want to present it as a thing of the future as well,” Knii Lante stated, suggesting he was set to help move the music some notches higher in other markets.