Akwasi Kyereme reflects on life, performance, and cultural joy in his new single, “Material World”

Akwasi Kyereme arrives with “Material World,” a piece that bridges decades of experience with a present desire to be seen and heard in fuller measure. Based between Berlin and Kumasi, Akwasi writes from a career of live performance and steadfast dedication; the song reads as a practical love letter to community, instrument, and stagecraft. It affirms that craft and presence matter and that the joy of public performance remains an ethical act of cultural exchange.

The song’s writerly impulse emerges from long practice. Akwasi’s concern with showing up, bringing instruments, rehearsing, and saving wages to support a live show shapes the song’s posture. This is music by someone who knows how a crowd changes a song and how a single chord can hold a room. Rather than positioning technology against tradition, Akwasi uses the recording as a means to widen the circle of people who might experience that live warmth.

Stylistically, “Material World” draws on reggae, African rhythms, and world-music textures to create a feel-good atmosphere that still retains emotional gravity. The arrangement privileges groove and communal pulse, and the vocal delivery gestures toward call-and-response traditions even when captured in a modern setting. That blend situates the piece as both local testimony and international offering.

There is a tenderness in the song’s appeal for recognition and support. Akwasi’s message about playlisting, visibility, and performance is humble but clear: the artist asks for a chance to bring a fuller show to audiences, a request rooted in labor, not entitlement. The honesty of that request gives the song an ethical tenor; it reads as both a request and a declaration.

“Material World” marks a continued chapter for Akwasi Kyereme, one that honors long-term commitment to craft while adapting to digital realities. It matters now because it reminds us that music is still primarily an exchange of time, labor, and shared feeling and that with a little help, artists with long histories can reach new rooms and new ears.