Els: MBN360 Entertainment
Theophilus Nii Arday Otoo popularly known in the music industry as Epixode has revealed he paints murals in prison cells to give hope to the inmates as the condition of the cells is nothing to write home about.
He mentioned on the GTV breakfast show today his involvement in a prison reform initiative led by artiste manager and entrepreneur Bullgod. Epixode praised Bullgod’s work with prison cells and credited him as a long-time mentor. “Big ups to Bullgod for what he’s doing with the prison cells. He’s been a father from way back till now. He’s one of the people who have seen me grow,” he said.
According to Epixode, Bullgod reached out to him about the project and he chose to participate beyond a paid performance. “He reached out that this is what he wants to do, this is what he’s actually doing. And I showed interest to be part of it, not just to go and get paid. I’m actually part of the whole thing,” he explained.
Describing the initiative as “an amazing project,” Epixode said visiting prison facilities highlighted poor conditions inmates face. “Looking at the condition of prison cells these guys sleep sometimes when we go there, it’s crazy. To confine in this space which is supposed to just hold a few people in for a few days. And you have people being there for two years, it’s crazy,” he stated.
He framed his participation as a way of giving back to society. “There’s no other way for me to get back to society than to do this. So as part of spreading the art side of me, I decided to just jump on it,” Epixode said, adding, “It’s cool, it’s beautiful. I love it.”
The artist said the team has so far executed four or five events under the project and intends to complete the full rollout. Recent activities included two shows at the Gomoa carnival. “The previous one we just did was the Gomoa carnival. We did two shows there. We’ve done like four or five, hoping to do the whole project,” he noted.
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Epixode also discussed a mural he created in Gomoa for MP, Kwame A Plus. He said the brief was to produce work that represents the people of the area. “He just gave me an idea to do something that represents the people. And I was looking beyond just the carnival or the festival,” Epixode said.
The mural incorporated elements of local life, including fishing, the dominant occupation in the coastal community. It also featured Adinkra symbols intended as an educational tool for children. “If you watch the mural, you’ll notice that we had to incorporate the lifestyle of the people. Like the occupation, they are fishermen. And then also try to build a space where the kids will be happy to learn from,” he explained.
Epixode said repeated exposure to the symbols could help children connect with their heritage. “Even if you don’t have them know much about the Adinkra symbols but them seeing it every day, they’ll get to a level where they get to understand, oh we actually, this is who we are,” he said.
The artist revealed he completed the work in five days on a scaffold and expressed satisfaction with the outcome. “I’m happy that it came out well. It was just five days on the scaffold and it was great. This is top notch and I’m really happy that it gave me the opportunity with the team to do that,” he added.
The ‘Wahala Dey’ hitmaker said he has merged his work as a visual artist with his music career, describing himself simply as “an artist” because of how the two disciplines feed into each other.
“I’ve been able to bridge that gap where I incorporate my art into the music and the music into art. So I’ll just call myself an artist,” Epixode said.
