Biography
Originally hailing from Ghana, M3NSA has built a multifaceted career as rapper, singer, producer, songwriter, and filmmaker, both on his own and as a founding member of the hip-hop outfit FOKN Bois before later launching RedRed. His debut solo full-length, No. 1 Mango Street, surfaced in 2010, coinciding with FOKN Bois’s initial outing via the comedic musical film and its accompanying soundtrack, Coz Ov Moni. Subsequent releases and stage collaborations with Wu-Tang Clan and the Roots paved the way for FOKN Bois’s 2019 Afro-pop tribute, the EP Afrobeats LOL.
Mensa Ansah, whose father Tumi Ebo Ansah once played guitar in the British Afro-pop ensemble Osibisa, grew up amid an extended artistic lineage that includes uncles film director Kwaw Ansah and fashion designer Kofi Ansah, along with cousin actor Joey Ansah, known for appearances in The Bourne Ultimatum and Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Piano lessons from his mother began at age eight; his earliest group, the short-lived hip-hop crew the Lifeline Family, issued the lone album It Was All a Game in 1999 while he recorded under the name Shyne, distinct from the Diddy associate. Transitioning to the M3NSA moniker, he served as co-producer and featured rapper on Reggie Rockstone’s 2004 release Last Show.
In the late 2000s he formed FOKN Bois alongside Wanlov the Kubolor; the duo, who once topped the bill at Glastonbury, drew stylistic parallels to OutKast, Fela Kuti, and Flight of the Conchords. Taking its title from his street address, the solo debut No. 1 Mango Street arrived in 2010, the same year FOKN Bois unveiled what they termed “the first Pidgen musical” through the film and soundtrack Coz Ov Moni. Follow-up projects included The FOKN DunaQuest in Budapest in 2011 and FOKN Wit Ewe in 2012, with the sequel film and album Coz Ov Moni 2: FOKN Revenge emerging in 2014.
M3NSA subsequently joined forces with Hungarian DJ ELO (Élő Márton) to create RedRed, which dropped the 2015 track “Ghetto” featuring Sarkodie. The following year FOKN Bois added vocals to the instrumental hip-hop set Ode to Ghana, yielding FOKN Ode to Ghana. Returning to Afro-pop elements, the seven-track EP Afrobeats LOL appeared in 2019.
Mensa Ansah, whose father Tumi Ebo Ansah once played guitar in the British Afro-pop ensemble Osibisa, grew up amid an extended artistic lineage that includes uncles film director Kwaw Ansah and fashion designer Kofi Ansah, along with cousin actor Joey Ansah, known for appearances in The Bourne Ultimatum and Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Piano lessons from his mother began at age eight; his earliest group, the short-lived hip-hop crew the Lifeline Family, issued the lone album It Was All a Game in 1999 while he recorded under the name Shyne, distinct from the Diddy associate. Transitioning to the M3NSA moniker, he served as co-producer and featured rapper on Reggie Rockstone’s 2004 release Last Show.
In the late 2000s he formed FOKN Bois alongside Wanlov the Kubolor; the duo, who once topped the bill at Glastonbury, drew stylistic parallels to OutKast, Fela Kuti, and Flight of the Conchords. Taking its title from his street address, the solo debut No. 1 Mango Street arrived in 2010, the same year FOKN Bois unveiled what they termed “the first Pidgen musical” through the film and soundtrack Coz Ov Moni. Follow-up projects included The FOKN DunaQuest in Budapest in 2011 and FOKN Wit Ewe in 2012, with the sequel film and album Coz Ov Moni 2: FOKN Revenge emerging in 2014.
M3NSA subsequently joined forces with Hungarian DJ ELO (Élő Márton) to create RedRed, which dropped the 2015 track “Ghetto” featuring Sarkodie. The following year FOKN Bois added vocals to the instrumental hip-hop set Ode to Ghana, yielding FOKN Ode to Ghana. Returning to Afro-pop elements, the seven-track EP Afrobeats LOL appeared in 2019.
Singles
