Nana (Darkman). 1998

Nana Darkman Abrokwa (b. October 5th, 1969 in Accra, Ghana) is one of Germany's most memorable rappers from the 90's.

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Nana Kwame Abrokwa's parents divorced when he was only 10 years old. After moving to Germany with his mother, brothers and sisters, Nana quickly discovers what racism is like. With a natural talent for music, the future artist is discovered and signed by producer Toni Cottura (who at the time was successful with Fun Factory and busy producing great hits for acts like Marky Mark, the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync), who becomes his agent and personal manager. 

In 1997, Toni Cottura left Fun Factory with his partner Bülent Aris. They founded Booya Music and launched Nana's debut album, which became a commercial success in Europe.

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Nana started rapping under the name of MC Africa True (short: True). He sang with the eurodance group Darkness, for which he wrote the single In My Dreams (1995).
Nana's first solo single Darkman was released in late 1996. 

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Nana's biggest hit is Lonely. 1997. feat. Jan van der Toorn, Alex Prince & Mazaya

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Working as a music journalist during the 90's, I contacted the Booya Music agency in Hamburg and did this telephone interview with Nana on July 30th, 1998. Nana had recently married Kathy. Their daughter, Aaliyah, was born three months before I took this interview (March 8th, 1998).

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CZB: After she divorced, your mother took you with her to Germany. How did you adapt to the new lifestyle?

Nana: I did not speak German at all at the time. When you're 10, you make friends quickly. My friends in Ghana were mostly European, so it wasn't hard for me to adapt to my new surroundings.

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CZB: You faced racist problems in the German school system. How much of a problem is this now, after the German union? 

Nana: Many bad things have happened during the past 6 or 7 years but things have started to change for the better. The problems are caused by a small group of people.

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CZB: I understand you are fighting racism; your songs are prayers against hatred and injustice.

Nana: My message is made up of two words: freedom and justice. I believe there is too much violence in the world today. People need to be reminded of all the bad things that have happened in the past to (change and) start helping one another. 

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CZB: You were a boxer and studied martial arts… are these not violent sports?

Nana: When the press finds out that someone trains as a boxer or practices karate, the information is translated to make it sound bad. Boxing and karate ... are sports. I practiced boxing for the physical exercise and I learned karate for extra protection.

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CZB: Your mom would have wanted you to become a doctor or a lawyer. How did you get involved in the music business?

Nana: I really started to get involved at 17; I wanted to be a DJ. Mom bought me a record player and a keyboard and I started training to be a DJ in my room. Although school is very important, I decided to give up on the books to work in a studio and write songs. I made a risk and now I am glad about the choice I made. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if mom had lived but I think I would have made the same choices and would have ended up here anyway.

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CZB: You met Toni Cottura at the Palladium Club in Hamburg?

Nana: I've known him since 1989. I was a DJ. He was an MC, leading the Fun Factory project. One evening he called me up to ask if I want to work with him on a few songs for an album of his. This was going on in 1994 and I said YES.

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CZB: If you wouldn't be making music what would you be doing?

Nana: Music.

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CZB: When did you realize you were hooked to music?

Nana: In kindergarden I used to hit the trash cans at schools (like they were drums) and I used to play with my tennis racket (like it would be a guitar). I break danced. I started buying records when I was a child and listened to them very carefully. The more music you know, the more you can do with it.

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CZB: What music did you grow up with?

Nana: With Michael Jackson (like everyone in my generation), Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Bob Marley, Kiss, AC/DC, Eddie Cochran... but it was always pretty clear to me that I would be doing Rap and Funk. I listened to a lot of music and I was very happy when I could, when I was DJ-ing, make people get up and dance.

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CZB: You have a girlfriend, Kathy, you've been living with for 4 years. How did you meet?

Nana: At a disco club in Hamburg (Germany).

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CZB: You have a daughter, Aaliyah. What significance does this name have?

Nana: My girlfriend is Muslim. I am Catholic. Aaliyah literally means "the best" in Arab. Her second name, Angela, is my mother's name. Her third name, Akosua, is an African name, from Ghana, given to girls born on a Sunday. The family name is Abrokwa. This way, she knows where her roots are.

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CZB: If you could meet with a famous personality from the past or present, who would this be?

Nana: I would like to work with Wyclef Jean. I respect 2Pac... If you are successful in life, there is one thing you should look after: never change! Someone else in my shoes would be out of his mind, but I have both feet on the ground. I see problems differently compared with other artists. I am a businessman. In the music scene, all artists have to pay attention to the two faces they have: the artist personality and the human personality… those that cannot tell the two apart have a serious problem. Many artists cannot tell the difference. They start to live in their own world, surrounded by photographers, recognized by a lot of people - but this is all fiction. We are all human beings. It doesn't matter how much money you make or how many hits you have… you don't change; you are not better than those around you. If you don't understand that, you have a big problem. I am happy with who I am. You always have to have lofty goals to be able to get somewhere. I want to work and be healthy. This is the way I am and I am very happy.

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CZB: You've gigged in the States?

Nana: Not yet. I hope to switch record companies next Fall and then I hope to be able to tackle the American market. It's not easy. Their music is different. They have far better rappers than we do in Europe. I do not consider myself a very good rapper, but I do think that personality is very important.

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CZB: Do you have anything to tell your Romanian fans?

Nana: Thanks for listening to my music. God Bless you. I would love to get to sing in Romania this year (of course, the interview was taken in 1999).

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This Interview was conceived by RiCo in JUL.1998

and was first published in TELE Cablu (Romania) on 19.SEP.1998

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More than a decade later, the artist is still active, still works with Toni Cottura, producing and writing music. Nana has recently been invited to play in countries like Estonia, and from his MySpace page, it seems he is friends with personalities such as American president Barack Obama and actor Denzel Washington.

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Nana finally got to play in Romania in 2011, a dozen years after this interview was taken.

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The official website (http://www.nana.de/) seems to be closed down. The artist is still active on-line through the MySpace page, featuring his most recent album release.

http://www.myspace.com/nanadarkman

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FThere is also a Facebook fan page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NANA-DARKMAN-Official-Fan-Page/108268602539948

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In the early 90s, Nana played in a German movie (Fernes Land Pa-ish) and the theater directing debut for Lars Becker’s Schattenboxer.

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After the Booya Records music label split up, Darkman continued working in the music business hosting a radio show on Radio NRJ and working several years as A&R for Universal Music Hamburg and EMI Music Publishing Germany.

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After provinding entrance music themes for boxing champions like Axel Schulz (He’s Comin’, 1997) and Dariusz Michaelczewski (Be All You Can Be, 2000), he composed Butterfly for his own participation at the third RTL Celebrity Boxing event, which he won in April 2004.

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Discography

• The Album (Booya Music, 1997)
• Father (Booya Music, 1998)
• All Doors in Flight No.7 (2004)
• 12 Y.O. (Darkman Records, 2008)
• Stand Up! (Gold Coast - A Tribute to My Country, Darkman Records, 2010)

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His Booya Music records (released through Motor Music/Universal) sold seven million copies worldwide. He received two Echo Awards and two VIVA Comet Awards.

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Let It Rain. 1996

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INTERVIEW Fun Factory 

http://czb.ro/articol/3748/

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