The music of Africa, like that of the African Diaspora, is alive and well and prospering and available in all its multiplicity of styles and voices at the Pan African Allstars record shop. The owner of the store, Alphasi Kanu, is originally from Sierra Leone but includes the works of African musical artists from many countries on the African continent at his store along with the works of black artists from the West Indies and the United States of America.
What does Kanu see as most special about African music? “The traditional values of what the artists are singing about and talking about,” the music entrepreneur answers. “Especially artists like Salif Keita and Sekou Bambino”. Kanu believes there are common musical threads linking the music of Africa with that of black Caribbeans and African Americans. “They are using instruments and patterns of playing the music that are African,” he observes. He believes this is especially pronounced in “the calypso music from the Caribbean”. He started the Pan African Allstars record shop because he saw a need for a store in metro Atlanta in which African singers and musicians as well as those of the African Diaspora would be represented. “I founded it because it was a problem to find African music in my location and I decided that since I wanted it I would be the one to make sure Africa is represented in the Diaspora,” he states.
Family drew Alphasi Kanu from the Sierra Leone to the U.S. “My daughter’s mother is from the United States and she came back here to have our daughter,” he recalls. “My daughter was born here so I came to visit her.” He immediately took to America. “When I came I saw all that was available here and it was so good that I stayed,” he recalls. Sierra Leone is a country that possesses much that is good, Kanu believes. “We’ve got our industries, our natural resources and our human resources,” he comments. “A lot of people from our country come here and they contribute and compete.” If he could change one thing about his home country, he says it would be “the judicial system”.
Kanu feels that the most special quality of the United States is what it offers educationally and economically. “Opportunities are available here regardless of where you come from,” the record storeowner maintains. What would he change about America if he had the power? “Immigration,” he says. “It should be like it used to be where the average American would still welcome you without even asking where you’re from”. He does not believe that there is necessarily much conflict between Americans and immigrants from Africa. “Some of us are married to Americans, we have children here and we get along with Americans,” he notes.
Having trained as an architect in civil engineering, he continued pursuing that profession when he came to America. His first home in the United States was in New York City where he worked for an engineering firm. What brought him to metro Atlanta? “A friend of mine said it was a good place for what I was looking for as far as business,” he replies.
Kanu considers Atlanta “a vibrant city.” If he could change one facet of life in this metropolis, he says it would be “housing. To make sure housing is affordable because things are changing so rapidly that housing is becoming a problem like it is in New York and Chicago”. Never afraid to try new things, Kanu left civil engineering in 1983 to promote and distribute music. Then in 1999, he founded the Pan African Allstars record shop. He finds running a record shop enjoyable and satisfying work. “What I find most satisfying about it is meeting people from a cross-section of the world who are looking for their music,” he remarks.
What does he find most challenging about operating a music store? “To put that music in the market and make it marketable when many people don’t know very much about each others’ music,” he says. “It can serve as a bridge over which people may meet each other”. The music of Africa is no more racially exclusivist that that of the African Diaspora, Kanu feels. When asked if people who are not of African ancestry can enjoy and appreciate African music, his answer is immediate and unequivocal: “Yes! Positively so!”
Alphasi Kanu has a philosophy of life that might be described as realistic yet optimistic. He states, “I take life like checking into a hotel: when your time is finished you have to check out and give someone else a chance. So make use of life when you have it”. When not at work, Kanu enjoys researching music, reading and playing tennis. “I read mostly political science,” the successful businessperson elaborates. “Tennis has been my sport. It’s a major sport in my native country”.
The Pan African Allstars record shop has two sister websites. One is at http://www.panafricanallstars.com. At that website, recent African releases from such African musical leaders as Blaise Bula, Douk Saga, King Kester Emeneya, Quentin Moyascko, Didier Mbendos and Shiko Mawatu are available. There are featured artists from Benin, Cape Verde, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and several other countries. In an example of how black music has beautifully cross-pollinated, there is a section devoted to African Reggae. One can also access Pan African Allstars Radio through this Internet website (but not through regular radio). “It’s on the Internet 24/7,” Kanu proudly explains. “It plays African, Caribbean and everything because we are Pan African, we represent the Diaspora”.
The other Pan African Allstars record shop sister website is at http://www.taransis.com. It is an online museum of African music and an all Diaspora music site that has some 6,000 or more CDs from the 1930s to date.
Located at 4325 Roosevelt Hwy. in College Park, the Pan African Allstars record shop is open Noon-7:00 p.m. every day of the week. Its phone number is 404-684-9955.
Tags: Alphasi Kanu, Blaise Bula, Cape Verde, Didier Mbendos, Douk Saga, Guinea, Ivory Coast, King Kester Emeneya, Quentin Moyascko, Shiko Mawatu
