“This is the place,” the good-natured taxi driver finally announces, pulling up near a house tucked deep in the McCarthy Hills.
As I step out of the cab, a neat breeze salutes me, as do healthy greenery and overall quietude. The driver, dark and middle-aged, turn the cab around and zooms down the untarred road we have just ascended.
Before long, the dreadlocked man I seek this afternoon emerges, clad in a black turban over his head, blue denim shirt, and khaki trousers over black boots. On his left breast pocket the word ‘Blakk’ is emblazoned; on the right, ‘Rasta’. Together, these two constitute the alias he goes by.
Born Abubakar Ahmed, Blakk Rasta has gained prominence as one of the most dominant voices in the land. It is specifically this attribute, which has embedded itself in the minds of many via music and media, that I have visited to explore.
We’ll have a conversation for sure, only not in his house. He knows just the right spot, beckoning me into his Pajero. We cruise around the neighbourhood for a few minutes, his car stereo blasting a new single which he intends to release the following day, before stopping at a cul-de-sac near a stately white mansion. He alights and begins to walk toward the edifice, I in tow.
“You see, McCarthy [Hills] has that history,” Rasta starts, addressing my curiosity about his choice of location for residence. Sir Charles McCarthy — one-time governor of the Gold Coast after whom these uplands were named — selected the area because it was devoid of mosquitoes, Rasta informs me. He adds that the building in view — rising like a dome from below the mountain — was once McCarthy’s personal residence. He would relate more of such anecdotes during our afternoon-long interaction which happens right in front of said house.
The words that descend from Rasta’s mouth are both winding and moving, like a sermon on a mount, and not unlike our journey in his Pajero to this peak. I also pick up a mild stutter — an ironic discovery that leaves me stunned.
He’s always had a natural affinity for altitudes. For one thing, Rasta explains, “you get unpolluted air.”
For another, it is conducive for prayer — which he does often. During this exercise, he prefers to see “nothing but the blue skies and the scenes.”
source enewsgh.com
