Rocky Dawuni – ‘Champion Arise’

Fiercely talented Rocky Dawuni makes songs which are instantly memorable and impossible to forget. His distinctive blend of Reggae, Dancehall, Soul, Afropop, Highlife, and traditional West African music makes him the purest definition of genre blurring.

The artist was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for his sixth album, ‘Branches Of The Same Tree’, and stands as testimony to his universal appeal. The proud Ghanian artist has recently released his single, ‘Champion Arise’ – and although it could well be a boast about his own career, it is instead shining the light of his audience, encouraging his listeners to find the champion within.

‘Champion Arise’ is about a spiritual fight, and the optimism of the song is typical of the whole of his ‘Beats Of Zion’ album. Rocky Dawuni sings powerful messages, conjoined with incredible melodies, illustrating just how passionate a musician he is.

The video for ‘Champion Arise’ sees Rocky dominating every frame, his confidence and grace extolling his commanding presence. Directed by Jon Riera and Casey Bridges, they have captured Rocky in a recording studio in Ghana, and a stunning beach in Malibu, including Woolshed Studios, parts of which were destroyed by the Malibu fires in 2018. In speaking of the shooting locations, Rocky said,

“The idea was to capture visuals that were real, intimate, uplifting, joyful yet mystical at the same time and present them as metaphors to communicate a concept of renewal, rebirth and victory after destruction and defeat. In Ghana, we settled on a location in the compound housing the ruins of the iconic Tuff Ghana Studio Africa, built by Rita Marley in honor of Bob Marley that got tragically destroyed in a fire in 2010 after its completion. I had recently taken possession of this place with a new vision to bring it back to life. The story of this studio and my current efforts to revitalize and rebuild it back from the ashes into a new center of music and youth culture captures the unspoken moral of video.”

Dawuni further explains that ‘Champion Arise’ brings,

“a timely message of hope, revival and empowerment at a moment when the whole world is undergoing a crisis of disruption and uncertainty in joyfully celebrating the resilient power of the human spirit to overcome the most adverse challenge.”

Check out more about Rocky Dawuni here. Watch the video for ‘Champion Arise’:

Rocky Dawuni - Champion Arise (Official Video)

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com