Derrick Ashong
Derrick N. Ashong, also known as "DNA", (born 1975 in Accra, Ghana), is a musician, artist, activist, and entrepreneur.
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[edit] Background
Born in Accra, Ghana in 1975, Derrick Ashong is the son of a pediatrician.[1] He attended school in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Voorhees, New Jersey[2] before attending Harvard University in 1997 through a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, where he studied Afro-American studies and was awarded the Hoopes Prize for his senior thesis. He returned to Harvard and is currently studying for a PhD in Ethnomusicology and Afro-American studies.[2] Ashong was a founding member of the Harvard Black Alumni Society.[3]
[edit] Career
[edit] Arts
Ashong's musical career started while at Harvard. He produced a musical entitled Songs We Can't Sing, for which he won awards,[4] before forming a band called "Black Rose". The band later became known as Soulfège. Ashong has worked with such established artists as Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, & Bobby McFerrin, and is MC and leader of the pan-African band Soulfège, under the name "DNA", producing works that have aired globally via outlets including MTV Africa, MNet Africa and BBC World Service.[2]
In 1997, Ashong had a role in the Steven Spielberg-produced movie Amistad,[1] playing the character Buakei, a role he gained through attending an open audition in New York.[5] He also appeared in a 2006 documentary about the Angola 3, entitled 3 Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation.[6] Ashong founded a talent agency, ASAFO Productions.[7]
Ashong is currently the host of The Stream on Al Jazeera English.
[edit] Public roles
Derrick Ashong has lectured on musicology, the free market, and individualism at over a hundred institutions in the United States, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia, including the World Music Expo WOMEX in 2003 in Spain,[3] and is the author of FREE THIS CD!!! - The FAM Manifesto - a text outlining the philosophy of open source music.[4]
Ashong reached prominent media attention when a YouTube video of him speaking on Barack Obama's campaign to gain the Democratic nomination for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Surprising the interviewer who expected a short soundbite (perhaps based on Ashong's casual appearance), Ashong gave a measured and protracted analysis of Obama's campaign.[8] The video has been viewed more than a million times.[1]
He has recently founded a media company specialising in niche advertising, called Take Back the Mic.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Carr, David (2008-03-17). "More Than a Sound Bite, This Clip Has Some Teeth". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/business/media/17carr.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=media&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ a b c "DNA biography". Soulfege. http://www.soulfege.com/bios/dnabio.php. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ a b "Has this young Ghanaian man won the election for Barack Obama?". Click Afrique. 2008-02-23. http://www.clickafrique.com/Magazine/ST010/CP0000002726.aspx. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ a b "Derrick Ashong". The Lavin Agency. http://www.thelavinagency.com/usa/derrickashong.html. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ Speedie, Sam (1997-12-11). "Derrick Ashong: Actor, Musician". Harvard Gazette. http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/1997/12.11/DerrickAshongAc.html. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ "Angola 3". 2006. http://www.angola3.tv/. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ "Adapting to the Beat: The Music Industry in Flux". Harvard University. 2004-11-13. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rap/uploads/30/rapfallconf.doc. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ "A Declaration on Independents". The Economist. 2008-02-14. http://www.economist.com/node/10697065. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
