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Heavy, heavy - weight and obesity in Ghana

Posted by abocco on Tue, 01/15/2008 - 18:22 GhanaThink Managing Executive

...Sounds on da ground and seens on the see-ins

I am one of Obrafour's biggest fans. I travelled a number of miles away to buy his latest album, Heavy. The title track dominated the Ghanaian charts in 2006 and rightly so. I hadn't paid much attention to what he meant by 'heavy, heavy', until my little cousin passed a comment about her fears in becoming fat if she eats too much. Then it dawned on me. Obrafour uses 'heavy' to mean 'great, nice', etc. But in today's 'watch your weight world', who wants to be 'heavy'?

Heavy is the name of Obrafour's fourth album. Micheal Okyere Darko is arguably hiplife's most loved artiste, due to his ability to spit rhymes on any beat, his decent lyrics and his masterful command of the Akan language. His debut album, 'Pae mu ka' is often hailed as the best hiplife album ever. Pae mu ka was mostly engineered by Hammer of the Last 2 (Edward osei Poku), but through the years, Obrafour has been rapping on beats from various beatmakers. Heavy's beat was done by Appietus (In the mix), arguably the best sound engineer in Ghana today. Other tracks on the Heavy album include Ako (war), Auntie Akosua ba, Kae me, Odo Nsuo, African Boy and Wote puupuu.

Heavy is a love song where the Rap Sofour promises to do everything a husband would do for a wife if the girl is his. Obrafour's new found love for singing is confirmed in the song. He goes on to praise his lover, celebrating her features, her character and her personality. He sums it up by saying she is 'heavy, heavy'. What is heavy? Something that weights right? Why should someone sing a song and use 'heavy' as a term of endearment? Only in Ghana, only in Africa, we celebrate 'heavy' women.

Concerns about obesity are high in countries like the US and the UK. You can research the stats for yourself. One thing that struck me when I first came to the US was the advertisement of weight loss programs. I hadn't seen a single one in Ghana and many years later, still don't see any. Are Ghanaians not concerned about weight gain? Think again. Having weight is a sign of success and prosperity, the absence of it signifies ill health and poverty. The onslaught of popular culture, model figures, and 'slim things' has not driven 'bola bola' into history.

Another interesting thing about this heavy issue is 'who is heavy'. It is believed that people get 'heavy' due to the foods they eat - junk food. Who eats junk food in the US? Those who can afford McDonalds, Burger King and pretty much are limited to those kinds of budgets. More often than not, you have the children in low class families falling victim. The tide turns in Ghana. Who can afford the burgers, the pizzas and the 'On da runs'? The elite are the ones who can afford the junk food regularly and besides they are the ones who have been exposed to the McDonalds and Burger Kings. A friend from the UK who teaches cookery seemed to agree with me on this interesting dynamic. Hey, at least the elite class in Ghana can also afford all the weight loss programs.

Some of you may be wondering about the Makola (market) women who are also pretty heavy. They remind me of the term sedentary workers, where some workers sit somewhere all day and conduct their business. Our fatty carbohydrate diet is not too kind to such people. Even though we celebrate heaviness, we have to be active people. 'Heaviness' is not obesity though. I am not the one to define so I'll just ask Obrafour to show us in a video

Full Heavy lyrics.
PS: And check this song while you are at it - heaviness is celebrating in South Africa too. Full Pot belly lyrics.

Comments

Swazibella made this comment on Wed, 01/16/2008 - 05:50

Healthy, Healthy

Weight is some issue, and your blog touches on some important points.
I am obviously big on health, and I'm sure we all know by now that Obesity is actually now considered an epidemic in the USA. Ridiculous. On one hand it's obesity, and on the other it's bulimia/anorexia. Clearly, sometimes it's more of an image issue than it is the food. You're right, research has shown that low Socio-economic status in the US is associated with higher body mass index and yes, it's easier for the person on minimum wage to buy a bic mac meal and jumbo coke to get more satisfaction for their money, than it is for them to get into an organic food store and for the same price, be able to only afford a couple of apples and a head of lettuce. After all, who wants to chew on celery sticks all day when you could have a nice vanilla milkshake....

I think in the US, it's a combination of factors. We all want to look like beyonce and brad pitt, but 1. We spend our days sitting on one chair, ordering food online or through telephone while barely moving any part of our bodies, we buy microwave dinners and certainly dont burn much calories preparing them! We also are not aware of the nasty ingredients (high sodium, preservatives etc) that are in these foods no matter if they are labelled "low fat" or not. 2. We consume way too much sugar and eat way too much cheese (ever notice how everything in the US has cheese? Pizza hut : 4-cheese pizza with cheese filled pastry crust and philly cheese steak topping. 3. We eat "comfort foods" (You probably couldn't count the snack packets in the library) and 4. We drink too much beer/alcohol.

Okay, I know we drink too much in Swaziland too (apparently, over the festive season they ran out of alcohol in the whole country and many liquor stores remained closed for a few days following new years). But, generally in a typical African setting, I would be woken by my shouting mother at 6 am to prepare breakfast for those going to work and school (albeit, grudgingly). After the rush hour mess, I am left alone to clean up, wash dishes (no dishwashers available -- and me, those pots! If your mother can't see her reflection on the pot, you did a poor job). I will then clean the whole house sparkling and shining from bathroom to bedroom. After which I cook lunch, shower and get dressed for a nice day out with friends. The walking around town alone (no yellow cabs) in some pretty impressive (but requiring a little stomach holding) outfits! Our food is also organic by default. And although our diet is high in carbohydrates and fat (fried everything with meat in every dish, even the dessert), we have alot of vegetable ingredients, alot of herbs, and the fruits are lekker. I think on average I eat about 11 mangoes a day. So it's not always about the fats and carbs that you eat, it's about the right foods, balanced diets and activity. Those market women tend to sit down all day eating and sometimes weaving.That is probably why they grow bigger than they should be. If you note their daughters who run around for them, they are probably skinnier than they should be, too. hehehe.

Of course, I celebrate the full figured woman, all the time, anytime. I think curvy is beautiful but we should definitely not go overboard. There is obviously something wrong if your stomach is hanging over your knees. We all have different body types and we shoud find what works for each of us. I think we should promote health more than we do body image, what we think is "ideal" and "attractive". We should have SOME kind of engaging physical activity each and every day be it skipping the elevator or fast-walking/biking to school or the plain old treadmill. it does wonders not only for your body, but for your heart and your mind! Sometimes I wonder how people eat themselves to 800 pounds and then join tv shows like "the biggest loser" only to lose 300 pounds and then gain it right back in a year. We should also worry about those who purge everything they eat and drink laxatives to lose weight. It's hard to change societal constructs like body image in the USA but I think individually, we should take it upon ourselves to be at our healthiest. Food is healthy. Nothing wrong with a burger / fried chakalaka once in a while, as long as u prepare it or walk to the chop bar :-).

---Only the people who believe in the power of personal development can truly be objects of global change

GhanaThink Managing Executive abocco made this comment on Wed, 01/23/2008 - 15:49

thank you for the response

thank you for the response, it looks like its own blog post too.
Maybe you should blog some.

the destiny of a nation at any given time depends on the opinions and contributions of its young men and women.

galin made this comment on Sun, 07/20/2008 - 13:20

I love Obrafour too. I

I love Obrafour too. I believe the latest album is absolutely great. I have to listen to the next one!