Kinaata has proof entertainers shouldn't be intellectually underrated – US University Instructor

An instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso in the United States of America has praised music star Kinaata for the meticulousness he exhibits in his creative process and work ethic saying it mirrors best practices in academia.

Efe Plange is a PhD candidate at the Texan university and on Friday, 2 September, 2022, had Kofi Kinaata address her class on his music and creative process.

The ‘Things Fall Apart’ hitmaker, who is on a tour in America, left her impressed, particular concerning how he goes about his music work from conception to release.

In an exclusive interview with Class News’ Prince Benjamin, she shared memories from Kinaata’s lecture.

“This experience with Kofi Kinaata in my class, really demonstrates that people like Kinaata who are normally in the entertainment industry, the way we perceive them to be just entertaining us, it’s not just entertainment but people like him are very conscious, very deliberate, very principled, and they have real goals for social impact. They may do it subtly through danceable tunes, but there is this overarching goal,” she began.

Invited to address 24 students of the first-year persuasive writing and composition course, Martin Kofi King Arthur, popularly known as Kinaata, revealed intimate details of his craft.

A major source of inspiration for him is working in solitude while listening to instrumentals.

His aim is to highlight specific social-cultural issues through songs that the average person in his native land, Ghana, can relate to.

Informed mainly by his goal to be a positive role model, he is mindful of his choice of words and the timing of his releases.

In hindsight, the head of the class, Ms Plange hopes the celebrated songwriter will be invited to more academic institutions.

“I know that we may not take people like Kinaata seriously, typically, but I am hoping that more and more academics can tap into his knowledge and share with their students.”

The reason she gave was, the Highlife performer’s attention to detail and openness to critique while working mirrors marked academic processes.

“I’m saying this because Kofi really demonstrates that the process that he goes through to put out music, is very critical. He demonstrates certain principles that even we in academia also use in our writing and in our research,” Ms Plange said.

“He does a lot of research, he pays attention to events happening in society, he uses contextual cues, his work goes through rigorous peer and expert review, multiple revisions, before it comes out,” she elaborated.

“This is how he embodies this very strict and rigorous critical work that we don’t normally expect of people who work in the entertainment industry or people who do art like that,” she lauded.

Efe Plange is pursuing a doctorate in “Rhetoric and Professional Writing” at the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas, United States of America.