Music
Where better to film this ode to Kojo's homeland than Accra itself? Producers Banx & Ranx recall a trip to remember.
Want to be transported away from the grey, the cold and the news for a full and blissful three minutes? Check out the video for Banx & Ranx and Kojo Funds’ infectious 2019 single, Traffic Jam. Filmed in bustling Accra – Kojo is half-Ghanaian and spent a lot of time there growing up – it is a frenetic ode to his motherland.
“Traffic Jam was such a fun song to make," remembers Kojo. "The song reflects the energy that was created in the studio that day. Working with Banx & Ranx felt like we had been working together for years – they are two musical geniuses.”
The French-Canadian production duo – real names Zacharie 'Soké' Raymond and Yannick 'KNY Factory' Rastogi – have made a name for themselves in the last couple of years, working with everyone from Sean Paul to Lady Leshurr to Fuse ODG. Watch a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary filmed during the video shoot in Accra in the player above, then read on as the pair fill us in on how Traffic Jam came together.
How did the track come about?
KNY: It was a session with Kojo that we had last summer. We’d wanted to work with him for quite a while. He showed up with a really good vibe. We started an idea with chords and drums and started to put down some melodies. We had the concept title and it all came together real quick. In an hour we had the chorus done.
Had you had your sights sets on working with Kojo?
Soké: We have really broad tastes in music so we tend to wanna work with a lot of different sounding artists. And Kojo was one of them. We don’t really force anything, we just let things happen naturally.
Kojo really came in with a good attitude and trusted us
I guess there’s no guarantee of chemistry in the studio….
KNY: We probably make between 50 and 100 tracks a year. And with all of them you never really know. It could be just one of those that ends up being released. We have thousands of songs and beats.
Soké: Sometimes you’re really excited to work with a certain artist. You get your expectations really high. Finally you end up with nothing concrete. And then you work with another artist or writer who’s not really known and you end up making a massive hit.
KNY: It keeps you humble and keeps your ears open as to what’s new and exciting.
But things clearly worked out with Kojo...
Soké: It felt super good. The session was amazing. He really came in with a good attitude and trusted us. We were like ‘Do you mind if we lead the session and help you write the lyrics?’ Because we really like to be involved in the whole process with the artist. And he was like ‘Go ahead’! So we did the song in six or seven hours.
Talk us through the making of the video.
KNY: It was like a carnival in the streets of Accra! There were at least 200 people in it. All the people standing around the set watching the filming probably ended up being in the video. There were so many people. We blocked the road.
Soké: The director – Meji Alabi – is from South Africa. We chose him as we loved the treatments on his videos that we’d seen. And also the fact that he was used to shooting in Africa. We’d seen the recent video he did for Tiwa Savage and it was siiiick.
What are your favourite memories from shoot day?
KNY: They took this goat out of the car and he or she was dressed in a skirt. You can see the goat in the video really quickly. But it has no skirt in the video. So I’m like ‘what happened to the poor goat?!’
Soké: It was funny as well because they had to hire police to secure the area. At some point they were like ‘OK we’re done!’ And they just left us. It was suddenly dark night and all 24 police who had been there were no longer on the set.
Did you get to explore Ghana?
KNY: Ebeneza Blanche who was shooting the behind-the-scenes video with us showed us around. He took us to his Mum’s house for some proper Ghanaian food. He was our tour guy. It was a great introduction to West Africa. People are super nice and calm and peaceful.
Soké: We were there for like ten days. So we did a writing camp. We were woking at Fuse ODG’s house. We probably met 50 to a hundred people – writers, artists, musicians, managers.
KNY: Fuse is so huge in Ghana. He actually lives in front of the Ghanaian presidents house. He has this mansion with his name in the pool! We met such amazing local talent. We had some friends there from Nigeria – Kel P, Juju Boy, She She, King Promise, Kelvyn Boy. We didn’t expect that at all.
What got you guys into this sort of music?
KNY: I’m from Guadalupe, so I grew up with dancehall, reggae, Afrobeats – all that kind of stuff. It’s always been part of our musical DNA. Plus, we love to travel and discover cultures. Since I was a young kid I always travelled the world. I remember I went to Cuba as a 10-year old kid and I got really into salsa music. Even now we’re doing some salsa beats. Growing up like that makes you not think about boundaries and borders. Which is exactly how music has gone these days.
Soké: The genes are getting blurred, and I think it's beautiful. We’re getting to a place where you can do pretty much anything if you embrace it. We can actually produce any genre of music because we genuinely love sonics. It’s like a chef who’s only asked to make pizza – but he can make bean bourguignon, pad thai. I love pizza – but do you wanna try my sushi?!
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