KOOKUSI AND R.B.D DELIVER A THOUGHTFUL DISCOURSE ABOUT ADDICTION ON NEW EP ”ADDICTS ANONYMOUS”
Concept or thematic albums are not uncommon in hip hop. Many artists have veered into this fold, offering tales about street life, social commentaries and cinematic engravings of their lives, neighborhood, and or close associates. An argument can be made that the production of concept albums is becoming a rarity in music today. The reasons accounting for this diminishing appeal are myriad. It is therefore refreshing when an artist decides to veer off the wave of ‘’vibes’ to produce a cohesive body of work that explores relatable issues in an honest yet appealing manner. That is exactly the idea behind rappers Kookusi and R.B.D‘s recently recently released project ‘’Addicts Anonymous’
The 8-track, (18 mins, 28 seconds) ”Addicts Anonymous” EP explores addictions that affect or afflicts many – from sex, power, money, drugs and more. Apart from the EP’s socially focused themes, it also falls within Kookusi’s area of study. According to co-collaborator R.B.D, ‘’ The idea of working on an addiction-related project originated from KooKusi who was already conducting some research on that topic – for his PhD’’.
The release of the ”Addicts Anonymous” has led to open discussions or conversations about addiction and related issues, revealing a new paradigm where people with ‘’deep secrets’’ can have the confidence to talk openly about their issues. With the release of EP, R.B.D and Kookusi did not only deliver a thoughtful poetry on the need to have open and honest discourse on various addictions but extended the discourse devoid of stigmatization.
CulArtblog caught up with the two artists to discuss ”Addicts Anonymous” EP, their creative process, the balance between their professional life and music, and how they connected with one another.
When did you guys first meet and how did this relationship start?
Kookusi (KK): We’ve still never met. RBD reached out to me to put a verse on “No where cool” (the freestyle at the time) somewhere in 2022 . That was our initial interaction
RBD: I have not met KooKusi in person yet, but I reached out to him after I watched his ‘’Nowhere Cool freestyle’’ on the timeline. It made me want to collaborate with him because I saw a similarity in our style of music. Our relationship kicked off after we worked on a refix of ‘’Nowhere Cool’’ for his ‘’Greetings From Abroad’’ album.
Did your love for music enhanced the bond between you?
KK: You can say that; rap specifically. RBD is a rap nerd, so it makes two of us.
Did you have any prior collaboration before this project?
RBD: Yeah, ‘’Nowhere Cool’’. It was released in 2022 as a single off his ‘’Greetings From Abroad’’ album.
When did you conceive the idea to create ‘’Addicts Anonymous’’ and the process to realizing it?
RBD: Last year, we both were contemplating a joint project. The idea of working on an addiction-related project originated from KooKusi, who was already conducting some research on that topic – for his PhD, I think. I liked the concept and suggested we implemented it by embodying various addicts in a focus group kind of setting.
KK: I’ve always wanted to do an addiction tape. I was already gearing up to start one post greetings from abroad when he reached out to me mid 2023 to pitch a joint EP idea. He proposed a therapy session when I told him I was on an addiction wave for my third project
Where you always in the studio together when creating the EP or you were recording and sending verses to each other?
KK: The latter, I’m stuck in Texas, USA for school, so we make a lot of WhatsApp group calls with the producers, they make the beats, we write on it individually and swap verses.
RBD: As I mentioned earlier, we have not yet met in person, as he is based in Texas. We bounced ideas off each other on WhatsApp to establish that synergy in our lyrics, then we recorded our verses separately. We then vetted our recordings afterwards to ensure that together, there was that technical, logical, and internal coherence and consistency.
Talk about how you came up with the concepts and issues to explore on the EP? Whose idea, was it first and foremost?
KK: Because I’m trying to marry my neuroscience research to my music, I proposed to do addiction. The therapy session concept is RBD’s patent. We had to jump on a long phone call and discuss which specific issues we think qualify as addictions. BIG LIST, we fused a couple, scraped some, and read more about the rest of them. The rest of the story came together as we progressed to make sure that the stories are interrelated
Take us behind the scenes on the discussions/arguments that went into the writing process?
KK: Too many, we can write a whole article on just those. Three-hour long conversations with RBD playing the fool half the time, those were fun. For a song like “Power” we had to discuss storyline because it’s the only song on which the two of us represent the same person (I tell his childhood story, and RBD talks about the present). We did not agree on the “Ablekuma Nana Lace” line. RBD held a gun to my head to sing on “Drugs”, we did not agree on that either, or as a compromise I brought in a choir. I did not want to do “Money” the way I did it, RBD bullied me into that too, that was another stressful argument. I didn’t know that I wanted to expose this part of myself just yet. And there are a 1000 more arguments spanning from production all through to cover art.
RBD: We watched interviews. We did some research on the internet. We wanted the storytelling to be as authentic as possible, so that people could really feel the harrowing ordeals of the addicts from a perspective that is not necessarily ours.
The title of the EP, ‘’Addicts Anonymous’’ is easy to grasp, but again, why that choice of a title?
RBD: I feel probably in our hindbrain, we got inspiration from “Workaholics Anonymous”, a song off the “For My Brothers” album by Kojo Cue, which said title was also a clever spin by Cue on “Alcoholics Anonymous”. Of course, we couldn’t use Alcoholics Anonymous because we explored a wide range of addictions in this project.
KK: You know the way every therapy session has “the name of the addiction” with “anonymous” attached to it? Like “alcoholics anonymous”, our session has all manner of addictions in there so we generalized to “addicts anonymous”. I wish we had found a better word, because the word “addict” is currently being retired because of the negative connotation it has.
You are both professionals and pursuing different career paths aside music. Kookusi is a pharmacist, RBD, a trained lawyer. How do you juggle between your professional work and music?
KK: Hm, mabrɛ mpo (I’m exhausted). It’s rough. For me personally, making three conceptual and coherent tapes while in this PhD program has been a nightmare. Conceptualize, write, record, shoot and edit videos, come back to promote to an audience that is heavily dependent on optics is supposed to be a full-time job. The fact that I’m still doing it at this level is a big miracle even I cannot explain. The biggest drive for me is purpose , and I’m not even trying to sound slick. I am doing all this to be able to communicate the things I know from behavioral science in socially significant art. I’m just scratching the surface
RBD: True. It is not easy. But it has gotten easier for me with time. On weekdays, I grind. On weekends, I take a breather like everyone else – and I breathe more easily in the booth
Is this collaborative EP going to be a series at a point, did you have any hesitation dropping it as that finale or were you just like this is a great concept EP, let’s put it out there?
RBD: Not really, no. We do not intend to make a series out of it. But that is not to say we may not collaborate on other projects in the future. And regarding dropping it, I think we both knew it was unique from its inception because nobody has actually put out a project like this in Ghana. Hell, possibly in the world of hip-hop rap! But I stand to be corrected on that
KK: Oh zero hesitation. We knew what we had done. We don’t know that it continues so that’s hard to speak on for now. Because I am still in the addiction space I may pick one of the nine stories in this tape and make a whole other tape out of it anyway, maybe my next tape
The curious thing about you guys and the projects you have individually put out overtime is that it’s been hip hop. What is it about that the genre that you find irresistible?
KK: (Laughs) I don’t even think about it. I guess that’s our background. I know that we fuse whichever mood we intend to communicate into the music, for like “screen” is predominantly afro for a reason.
RBD: I do explore other genres too in my music. You know, like R&B type of hip-hop rap, Afro fusion and even Amapiano. But man, hip-hop rap is what I grew up on. That’s the genre I really fell in love with.
Kookusi, your music has centred around socio-political issues as heard on ‘’Greetings From Abroad’’. What drives you towards such topics/issues?
KK: It’s a spill over of the everyday conversations I have. I can be having a random conversation with you, and next thing I’m doing a project on the subject. Once I pick on something I hadn’t thought about before in the conversation, especially when it’s psycho social, I believe there are other people just like me it affects. Most importantly, I’m not getting paid to do this, but the joy that springs out of my heart when someone says, “you just told my story” Or “I never thought about it this way” makes me feel very fulfilled. It’s music that has VALUE.
What are you navigating and coping with the challenges of life as you grow your craft as artists and pursuing other equally important careers
RBD: I will be putting my debut album out early next year. That album will answer this question. So, I hope y’all keep your ears to the ground for me
KK: I’m navigating a lot, from the typical challenges of balancing a music career with school to the pressures of reaching an audience in a market driven by optics and numbers. In a world where music consumers often prioritize image over substance, staying true to my craft is daunting, especially since I may never conform to industry trends. Still, I remain committed to my artistry, learning the ropes, and adjusting where I can, without compromising who I am.
