Ancestry in Sound. A Journey Across Continents. A Tribute to a Friend.
Some songs are created in a studio. Others emerge through collaboration, chance and shared experience. Over time, a song can come to carry memories, people and places that could never have been planned.
“Tinkpando” is one of those songs.
Its story began in Ghana in 2023, when Zongo Abongo hosted Sebastian Pringle of Crystal Fighters on his first journey through the country. Introduced by their mutual friend and collaborator Busy Twist, they travelled through different regions, turning their Airbnbs into temporary studios and inviting local musicians to exchange ideas and record.
Among them was Anthony Awingura, Zongo’s longtime friend and collaborator. A gifted player of the gonje and kologo—traditional instruments from northern Ghana—Anthony recorded both instruments for the developing track. Renowned Ghanaian percussionist Okoe Amartey-Fio added percussion, while Sebastian added guitar.
Just months later, Anthony sadly passed away. Suddenly, his performance carried a deeper meaning: it was no longer simply part of a recording; it had become a lasting document of his presence and a memory preserved forever in sound.
The unfinished demo resurfaced in London in 2026, while Zongo was staying with Busy Twist. Zongo had faced difficult personal circumstances the previous year and had undergone surgery while battling cancer. As he recovered and began rebuilding his life in the UK, Zongo found the inspiration to write and record the vocals, bringing new meaning to the music that had been waiting since 2023. The song is sung in Dagbani — Zongo’s native language — and reflects his own story, from his village in northern Ghana to the city, where he discovered the rich variety of music that would go on to shape his journey through sound.
Busy Twist shaped the final production, contributing additional instrumentation while developing the arrangement and mix at his home studio bringing a contemporary counterpoint to the song’s ancestral sounds. John Robinson mixed the vocals at Clique Productions in London and the final master was completed in Colombia by Andres Silva.
Rooted in the sounds of northern Ghana, “Tinkpando” brings traditional instruments and rhythms into a new sound. For Zongo, it represents a way for ancestral sounds, memories and voices to continue speaking through the present.
“After Anthony passed away, I realised we had captured something much more precious than a recording—a piece of his life. Every time I hear the gonje and kologo on this song, I hear my friend.”
“Tinkpando” is both a collaboration and an act of remembrance: a song that travelled from Ghana to England and Colombia, carrying Anthony’s sound with it.