Could Dr Pushkin’s Outlandish album break Ghana’s Grammy’s curse?
Dr Pushkin has just about two weeks to the release of his maiden studio album, a promised masterpiece that promises depth beyond the excitement and ‘buga buga’ that many music lovers are accustomed to. But could the Outlandish album actually be the wonder?
This is a project that has been worked on for two years and includes in its crew a well of experienced engineers and produces including the MIT-trained computer engineer himself.
From a young age, the man shot to fame with his Opoku Ware National Science and Maths Quiz team whom he led as team captain to secure the ultimate for the Kumasi academic giants. But if National Science and Maths Quiz fame was something big, he had eyes for the bigger and that led him to Swarthmore College where he earned double undergraduate degrees in Engineering and Economics.
Then came MIT, where he obtained his Masters’s and PhD in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science respectively. Having worked with top brands including Oracle, MathWorks and DARPA, the Algorine founder is slowly but effectively honing for himself a path in the music in silence.
After releasing a couple of singles while working as part of the underground multi-genre group Isolirium which traces its roots to Ghana, Russia and Austin, Texas, he is set to release his maiden studio album.
He has already collaborated with Budukusu and TeriWiizi and has featured both in his upcoming album including several new ones including Jerry Kanjaga and Musphasah.
Neither do hear Dr Pushkin’s music at the parties and event grounds nor on the radio and when he released the visuals for Lies, one of the songs of the Outlandish album, it did not receive much attention on Ghanaian TV stations. But in all that, there is one thing that is different and constant, those who have listened to his songs do not need a second listening to appreciate the amount of work put in and the spirit of the songs.
Ghana’s sole torchbearer at the Grammy’s Rocky Dawuni has trekked a similar path before and today stands tall as one of Ghana’s best international artists if not the best. Noella Wiyaala, the African Lioness has continued to walk in the dark of the Ghanaian media and seldom gets mentioned in showbiz but she is one of Ghana’s best music exports.
For the legendary Ofori Amponsah also known as Mr All 4 Real to feature on the album of an artist whom Ghanaians barely know means there is much more to his music than meets the eye. And may that could be what is meant by the title of their song “Make You Wonder”.
Will Dr Pushkin make Ghanaians wonder with his Outlandish album? Time will tell. You can pre-save the album ahead of the release date by clicking on the Outlandish album.
