Rocky Dawuni (English)

ROCKY DAWUNI

Ghana’s international music star Rocky Dawuni has leveraged his popularity within and without of the Continent to champion social causes and inspire a generation of artists and fans alike. Dawuni’s eloquence as well as his successful melding of musical celebrity and social action has made him a spokesperson for various causes worldwide. Over the last few years, Rocky’s music and electric live performances have attracted thousands to his concerts. Superstars such as Stevie Wonder and Peter Gabriel have joined him on stage at his shows to tremendous response.
Rocky just completed his forthcoming 5th studio album, “Hymns for the Rebel Soul” has just been exclusively released through Whole Foods Market in October, 2009. This new 11 song album was inspired and written over the course of his travels around the world particularly Israel, Finland, Jamaica, U.S. and Ghana in his quest to articulate and craft a record that reflected the common spiritual, political and social aspirations of ordinary folks around the world. With the songs written, the main tracking and recording took place in Los Angeles during the transformative period of the 2008 U.S. presidential election and concluded on inauguration day. Rocky sees this album as a musical exploration in global consciousness. Whole Foods Market has fully committed to distributing the record in all their stores as well as working to evolve specific promotional strategies to support Rocky as a personality. Video Game Giant EA has licensed the first track off the album “Download the Revolution” from the forthcoming release for their FIFA 2010 video game which will expose this release to millions of fans around the world.  (Two tracks from his previous recording Book of Changes were also featured on EA’s FIFA 2008 and Simms video games.)
In the US, Dawuni’s progressive fusion of Reggae, Soul and traditional African sounds, have been making steady inroads in the entertainment industry.  He can be seen/heard alongside Bono in the video and song remake of “War /No more Trouble” for the highly successful “Playing for Change: Songs Around the World” album which was released by Concord Music in April 2009. The CD is available in all Starbuck’s locations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgWFxFg7-GU Rocky has received extensive airplay on flagship stations like KCRW as well as prominent exposure on hit TV shows like Weeds, ER and Dexter. Rocky recently signed a co-publishing and administration deal with Lionsgate Music which should insure even more exposure for his music worldwide through film, television and commercials.  His voice will be heard on the theme song for “The Goode Family” on primetime ABC Television in May 2009.  Rocky’s rendition of John Lennon’s “Well Well Well” was featured on the highly successful Deluxe edition of Instant Karma: Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. The Warner Brothers release featured global stars including Black Eyed Peas, Jack Johnson, Christina Aguillera, U2 and more.

Dawuni is creator and headliner of his annual music festival “Rocky Dawuni Independence Splash” held every March 6th in his native Ghana which is produced by his NGO Africa Live! The annual event in Ghana attracts upwards of 30,000 people every year and has become the rallying point for his extensive humanitarian and advocacy work on clean water, HIV AIDS, poverty eradication and girl child education issues. Dawuni has made several extensive trips throughout Northern Ghana in conjunction with UNICEF & the Carter Center, helping to shed light on the acute water / sanitation problems and helping to spur practical and sustainable solutions reflective of his ongoing quest to use music as a tool for social development. Rocky has served as a personality for Product (RED) led by U2’s front man Bono and Bobby Shriver supporting The Global Fund’s initiatives on HIV/ AIDs in Africa.

Rocky is also the brainchild of Los Angeles’ world renown Thursday night club, Afro Funke’, which has been the premier African based night in Los Angeles for over 6 years. Afro Funke’ is frequented by an extremely diverse clientele of all ethnicities and ages who are drawn to the incredible music and ambiance of the night.  His presence there also draws a cross section of celebrities who enjoy soaking in the vibes with him including Prince, India.Arie, Stevie Wonder, Reverend Michael Beckwith (The Secret) and many more.

Rocky completed a tour in Bali, Indonesia where he headlined the Balispirit Festival 2009 early this year to tremendous response. He worked with a local Indonesian band and Australian back up singers so the feeling was definitely international!  He went on to headline the Fowler Museum at UCLA on June 6 for an acoustic set for the “Afro Funke’ Night @ the Fowler.” Rocky Dawuni & the Revelation Project were invited to open the Grand Performances Season at California Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles on July 10 with his full 12 piece band.  He invited very special guests South Africa legend Vusi Mahlasela, Grammy award winning Blues musician Keb Mo and Jazz superstar Ronnie Laws to join him during this unbelievable performance attended by over 4000 fans! Immediately following this show, Rocky took off for a European tour of Germany, Austria and France. Rocky then returned to Los Angeles to co-headline the legendary Roxy Theatre with Latin funk all-stars B-Side Players on August 28, 2009. Rocky will next be presented by Afro Funke’ & PUMA for the “African Soccer Fever” events in Los Angeles Thursday, December 3rd at Afro Funke’ (Zanzibar) and San Francisco Friday, December 4th at The Elbo Room.

What’s up next for Africa’s shining star? Stay tuned….

www.rockydawuni.com / www.myspace.com/rockydawunimusic /   www.africalivemusic.com