Born Muhammed Kah, in the Pipeline neighbourhood, Mo Hawk, as widely called is one of the country’s most versatile rappers of recent years.  

This intransigent artist has a lot to be proud of as he celebrates over a decade of active involvement in the music industry.  Starting out as a member of Da Fugitivz, a four-member group, the group over the past years has taken the entire music industry  by storm. It was from this group that Mo Hawk built a name for himself; thus nick named Rap Khalifa. Recognized for his unique and aggressive wollof rap style, he’d successfully set himself apart from the rest, proof of which lies in him being awarded the Rapper of the Year Award at the first ever awards ceremony in The Gambia.

He sings fluently both in English and his native wollof. Over the past years, the star has gone to an extent of creating a synergy of ‘West meets Africa’. Channeling a decade of experience in the Rap music industry, Mo Hawk is ready to broaden his horizons, thus channeling a decade of experience he gathered while with the Da Fugitivz, and as a solo star. As a rapper, DJ, a songwriter, and a radio show host cum producer, Mo Hawk’s commitment to music is copious. With a mind of his own, Mo Hawk sees music as a meas to educate the masses through his work.

Rapping about the ills of society and relating to his own personal experiences, he seeks to make a difference. In this recent exclusive chat with What’s On, Mo Hawk talked about his music, record label, constraints as well as plans for 2010 among others.  
Excerpts:

Welcome back star, is been a while. Where were you been hiding?
 (Laugh)...Well, I was in Sweden where I am currently based, doing my music and other stuffs.

How is the music industry in Sweden?
Oh, music scene in Sweden is doing fine; you have a lot of things going on. I was always busy attending festivals. Just recently, before I came to The Gambia, I attended one called African festivals in Stockholm. It was a festival which featured almost all Swedish top rappers, so I represented The Gambia at the concerts. It was really a successful one.

How has the music industry been over the past years for you?
It’s been a very great achievement and improvement to say. I have managed to set up my own Record Label called the ‘Block Entertainment Studio’ here in The Gambia. And besides, I am also working very well to promote the image of the country out there. So it’s been a great success for me.

A Record Label? When was this established?
 (Laughs) It was established just last year; the time when I finished the projects ie building the structure, as well as the installation of equipment. And I hope to start the real recording, as well as doing some other projects in 2010.

 What are some of the achievements registered since inception?
Yeah, as I told you before, I just started last year, so it’s not officially open yet. I was just recording underground and at the same doing some other stuffs. But the project I am planning to do is to put the Gambian music, artists to international level; that is the whole aim of the project. Currently, I am working on a remix project called ‘We are Africans’ with some other Nigerians based in the UK. And after that we will do another remix with some Senegambian artists and this will be released internationally including in the UK.

How far with your album?
Am still working hard on my new album. I intend to drop it this year “Inshallah’ in March. And after its release, I am planning a global tour, which will take me to Europe, and the United States.

‘Don’t Stop’ is one of the tunes in this forthcoming album. Can you tell us a little about this track?
Oh yeah and beside that I have released other singles with other artists too, and all of this will be in my final album to be released in March 2010. The latter song is a dance song. Is like telling a girl don’t stop dancing for me. This song came about when I was with a friend and it happened so quick. I didn’t even think it’s going to be like this. But for me  when you don’t plan stuff it’s always a hit one. I just recorded it in a couple of minutes back in Sweden. I then sent it to a lot of people including some Jamaican deejays because they love it, and even played it in clubs in Sweden.

You had performed in the Finnish autonomous region of Aland, last year; how successful was the concert?
(Laugh)….It was a great show. I was amazed when I went there, as it was my first time in Aland. Guessed what?  It was the headline news in all major newspapers in Finland. Indeed it was a great experience for me. Infact when the show started, the venue was jampacked with people and all the tickets were  sold out. It was described as the West African hip-hop night in Aland. It was something they never had or seen; so when I came there, it was really a nice performance. The crowd responded well and so I gave all my best of performance.  Hopefully, I will go back there this year on July 10th, to do another bigger show than the one I had there before.

The Gambian music has recently been going smoothly. We have seen the emergence of new rising stars. How would you assess the country’s music sector?
To me is developing, but on the other hand at a slow pace. Is very slow, because the hip-hop music industry right now is thirteen years old I can say, but still is growing very slow. We need more help towards the enforcement of the Copy Right Law. We also need help from the media -  the TV and radio stations in particular -  DJ’s and all music promoters. This way we can benefit from the music. Right now we are not benefiting anything from the music; we just release singles here and there but there is nothing happening. But hopefully it’s going to be ok. Hopefully in five years time the music is gonna be really big. If everyone does what I did - like opening recording studios, the industry would have taken a giant stride. If you open recording studio, do something that involves the youths in music then music in five years time will be really big.

Some people call you Rap Khalipha. How did you get that name?
(Laughs)...That’s my name because I am the Khalipha in the rap game. It was a name that was given to me a long time ago, but I thought is not the right time to call myself Kalipha yet, because if you can keenly listen to my LYRICS, I use to call myself ‘Halfis Dongou” which means someone that is vast in the Qur’an; so being a rapper and also vast in the Qur’an is something that is really good. But after a while in the rap game, achieving a lot and being every where, I think is right time to be in another level; meaning you have to have another degree like in the university. So Rap Khalipha is my degree because I am the Khalipha in the game. And besides my forthcoming album will be named after ‘Rap Khalipha” . Basically this forthcoming is all about me, my experience and a lot of stuffs.

How many tracks will this forthcoming album contain?
Well, is going to be fifteen track-album featuring some Gambian, Senegalese and Swedish rappers. Besides I did major collaboration with some international artists over the years, and it was a great experience for me. However, if you are doing music, you have to do it openly in order to spread your words. Doing music with Swedish rappers is something that is really great. I did a song with EBOY, he is in RMH together with Adams Tensta, and is a mixed song. Besides I did some other collaboration with Senegalese artists like  Alieoune Kasse, AYOUBA among others. Currently I am planning to do a song with AWADI, Positive Black Souls, PATAH and others.

Besides being a rapper, you are one of the finest selectors at Energy Sound. How did that come about?
(Laugh)…Yeah. deejaying is a passion; something I like doing. Is like if I play deejay at the Sound for two weeks, and feel really bored I then concentrate on other stuffs. It is in  my blood. But anyway it is really a nice experience for me because I started deejaying before I started rapping; that was like way back in the 90’s and I love doing it.

Energy Soundz is a sound system I own with a friend based in Oslo, Norway. So we are all deejays and we set up a sound system as well as an online radio station, where we operate 24/7. We have news and promote Gambian music. We are like the first Gambian websites to be promoting Gambian music internationally as well as broadcasting Gambian stuffs online.

The year 2009 has been a difficult year for many including artists. Can you recall some of your constraints in that year?
Oh that year has been a difficult one for me; I don’t want to talk about it. It had been a depressing year as everything was stagnant. But we just got to have faith and do what we have to do. It is not a permanent stage, but “Alhamdoulilahi” 2009 is gone and we are now in another year;  we all hope for the best.

How many artists did you sign at your Record Label, and what actually inspired you to sign them?
 (Laughs...) I signed MC Mbaye of Black Acoustics and Jali Mali. The reason of signing these duo stars is that they are unique in their music style. Infact I did a couple of songs with them and planning to release MC Mbaye’s single as well as Jali Madi’s single. All what we are looking for at Block Entertainment Studio, is the uniqueness of the artist. This duo stars are original in their trade and originality is we are looking for. If we recruit these stars and market them internationally, then is something that is original from The Gambia, as we are not copying Jaz or other stars, but we got our own identity. That’s why I’m focusing on them right now.

Any plans for 2010?
Oh yeah I have a lot; but me priority is basically to drop my new album, working full time in the studios with artist as well as my European and US tour. I also want to work with the artists I’ve just signed at my record Label. Besides I’m planning to do a GRTS TV show promoting Gambian music

Thanks for granting us this interview.
Oh you welcome; I appreciate it.