Emmerson

Emmerson has been compared to Fela Kuti of Nigeria, Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Kwame Nkruma of Ghana, to name a few political activists. "Borbor Bele", released in January 2005, is the title of Emmerson's long-awaited debut album. Full name Emmerson Amidu Bockarie is the leading musician from Sierra Leone. Some call him the "Sugar Meresin" (meresin is KRIO for medicine), some call him "the bitter meresin", whilst some prefer to call him "Borbor Bele".
Borbor Bele is the best selling album in Sierra Leone's music recording history. And that's official! Emmerson won the Best Selling Album Award at the Celtel Premier Music Awards event in December 2005. Borbor Bele features ten songs including the #1 hit singles, U go si am, which received a Premier Music Award 2004 ( PMA ) nomination for Best Single. The album also features a reggae track called Sugar Meresin - which is one for the ladies and was nominated for the CPMA Best Reggae Song - and there's the title track, Borbor Bele, which received unprecedented airplay, by public demand, during the early promotion of the Borbor Bele album. An attempt was made to ban the title track, 'Borbor Bele' from the airwaves in Sierra Leone. Why?
Well, a 'Borbor Bele' can be described as " a corrupt civil servant or non-governmental organisation employee who steals public resources. " And there are quite a few ' Borbor Beles ' about! They control government coffers and with Sierra Leone being a donor driven economy, Borbor Bele's also control huge donor funds.
Emmerson loves nothing better than meeting his fans and he has had the opportunity to travel quite a bit across the globe. In 2005 and the trend seems to be continuing in early 2006, Emmerson has played to packed auditoriums in Guinea, The Gambia, the UK and USA and across Europe. With the struggling background that he experienced as a kid, his inspiration comes from musicians like Fela Kuti of Nigeria, Brenda Fassie of South Africa, whose influence is apparent in ' Tutu Party ' a great party song on 'Borbor Bele' and other artists from across the globe. How would Emmerson like to be remembered? As a patriotic citizen of Sierra Leone and Africa who made a contribution to eradicating corruption and as the most entertaining musician of his era!

Nettsted: http://www.showbizsierraleone.com/