Accra feels like a festival — Chance the Rapper urges Black Americans to visit Ghana
American rapper Chance the Rapper is urging Black Americans to visit Ghana, describing the West African country as a vibrant cultural hub and a place of deep historical identity.
In a recent conversation with former NFL quarterback Cam Newton, Chance revealed that his first trip to Ghana came during a difficult period in his life. Feeling overwhelmed by personal challenges and noticing his friend Vic Mensa enjoying life in Ghana, he decided to join him.
“I was dealing with these different things, I just needed to take my mind off it. I was seeing pictures of Vic out there at clubs and in skyscrapers, and I had never seen anything like that in Ghana. So I wanted to see it too. At first, I was really just going out there to have fun,” he recalled.
However, what he experienced in Accra went far beyond nightlife. Chance described the city’s energy as unmatched, with clubs buzzing until morning and the festive season, popularly known as ‘Detty December’, transforming the capital into a global carnival.
“During December and January, Accra feels like a festival. A lot of Black people from different countries fly in, and it is literally lit. The whole city feels alive,” he said.
Beyond the nightlife, Chance emphasised that Ghana offers something deeper: a profound sense of history and identity for people of African descent. He pointed to the legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, as an example of revolutionary history unfamiliar to many in the diaspora.
“I am not talking about slave trade history. I am talking about revolutionary history, like who became the first president, how he was an international icon in the 1970s, and how he influenced the civil rights movement here in the United States,” Chance explained.
Chance the Rapper is currently one of the main organisers of the Black Star Festival in Ghana, which celebrates African and diasporan unity through music, culture and history. For him, the country is more than just a destination; it is a homecoming experience that every Black American should witness at least once.
“Ghana is a thing. It changed my perspective. Every Black person should see it for themselves,” he said.
