Just a few weeks after successfully defending his Ph.D. at MIT Media Lab, Sierra Leonean David Moinina Sengeh has released a gif-laden music video for single “Ar Don Go.”
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Produced by Ben Bloomberg and Brainy Beatz, “Ar Don Go” means in Sierra Leone creole “I have gone,” “I’ve left,” or literally, “watch me go.”
With an AfroBeats sound, the single encourages upward mobility and progress, with Sengeh (pictured) singing:
The Lord gi wi all some He gave me the looks
I got me the locks and dived in the books ya
chance is, we got me the lucks (ya)
to put this under lock where been di keys
been learning to since kindergarten
working hard, en no fightingWork equals Force times distance (ya math)
Day dream is force with no distance so
work hard and do send remittances
tough times and what the balance is
doesn’t define you or what the status quo is
Fame, di gains, always quoted,
di strains, di pain, let’s celebrate themNo one says it would be easy
cool di tempo (ya) feel di breazy
look you look me look we done go
Watch “Ar Don Go” here:
Sengeh, who is a 2014 YACE “Youth and Innovation” Awardee, told Face2Face Africa that he seeks to offer youth a “different perspective” from what they are usually exposed to in music.
“‘Ar Don Go,’ like most of the songs I do, really is focused on offering young African AfroBeat lovers a different perspective of what it means to be ‘successful,'” Sengeh says.
“In the music scene, especially hip-hop, success is measured in how many ladies, watches, flights, etc. one has and how much money one spends at the bar. So ‘Ar Don Go’ touches on these issues and gives the freedom to others to brag about nerdy things like winning the Lemelson-MIT Prize, the most prestigious award an innovative graduate student can win at MIT and now USA.”
Sengeh can name drop the award because he is a recipient of the prize. He was also named in 2013 as Forbes‘ “30 Under 30 in Technology” and named on Wired‘s “Smart List.”
A 2014 TED fellow, Sengeh designs prosthetic sockets and wearable interfaces and is the co-founder and president of NGO Global Minimum Inc., which spurs innovation among high school students in Kenya and Sierra Leone.
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