This study presents a stylistic analysis of Kofi Kinaata’s song "Things Fall Apart". The analysis focuses on the linguistic features and stylistic devices used in the song’s lyrics. The aim is to uncover how meaning is constructed. Drawing on theories of stylistics, the paper explores the use of collocation, repetition, metaphor, parallelism, and code-mixing. The study concludes that Kinaata employs these devices to critique religious hypocrisy and moral decline in Ghanaian society. His usage of these stylistics devices makes the song interesting and still aids him in developing thematic issues. His use of the Fante language, combined with English, enhances the cultural resonance and accessibility of his message
A STYLISTICS ANALYSIS Of KINAATA’S THING FALL APART
Harry Milton Hayford
ABSTRACT
This study presents a stylistic analysis of Kofi Kinaata’s song Things Fall Apart. The analysis focuses on the linguistic features and stylistic devices used in the song’s lyrics. The aim is to uncover how meaning is constructed. Drawing on theories of stylistics, the paper explores the use of collocation, repetition, metaphor, parallelism, and code-mixing. The study concludes that Kinaata employs these devices to critique religious hypocrisy and moral decline in Ghanaian society. His usage of these stylistics devices makes the song interesting and still aids him in developing thematic issues. His use of the Fante language, combined with English, enhances the cultural resonance and accessibility of his message
INTRODUCTION
Kofi Kinaata is one of Ghana’s celebrated musicians . He started as a rapper and later moved to other genres of music . He is an artist loved by a number of Ghanaians . Music can be analysed from two perspectives. These are lyrics and melody. For melody , that is the domain of music theorists. Lyrics , the words, phrases and sentences used in the song, is the focus of this study.
The study will analyse Kofi Kinaata’s Thing Fall Apart . The lyrics of this song will be scrutinised to determine its stylistics features .
Cureton (1997) posits that stylistics explores the role of language in literary experience. Udeze et al(2017 ) mention that stylistics explores the linguistic features of a text. Udeze et al (2017) posit that whenever we use language to talk or write, we are always – consciously and unconsciously – making choices about the words we use. Each person has a way of dressing. Each person has a unique handwriting. Same can be said of the writing or speaking style of individuals.
Giovanelli & Mason (2018) write that stylistics has its roots in rhetoric, dating all the way back to Ancient Greece and, later Rome. They mention that rhetoric (in Ancient Greece and Rome) was centrally concerned with exploring and examining the effects of language and how particular choices could make a speech more, or less, persuasive and compelling. Giovanelli & Mason (2018) end by stating that today, stylistics mirrors this focus on examining the effects of language.
Stylistic studies pave way for a greater understanding of literature. It is from this background that this study tries to analyse Kinaata’s Things Fall apart using stylistics. Since Kinaata released this song, no stylistic analysis has been done on it. As it stands , there is only one work that has looked at Kinaata’s lyrics in a stylistic study. This study is Nkansah (2022) . Nkansah analysed “Susuka” and “Sweetie Pie by Kinaata as part of a study of 14 Ghanaian hiplife songs . The focus of this study is to look at style kinaata employs in his song things fall apart.
BIOGRAPHY OF KINAATA
The popularity of Kofi kinaata in Ghana is well known by all. His birth name is Martin king Arthur. He was born on the 15th day of April 1990 in the Western Region of Ghana. He was born and bred in Effiakuma. He is known for sensible songs. His songs explore various thematic issues. He has been nominated for various categories at various music award shows. He has won songwriter of the year more than twice. He mentioned in interviews that his family initially opposed his music career and thus he tries to protect his family’s image . He works hard to make good music so he does not bring his family into disrepute. He mentions that he told his father to keep the money he intended to use to finance his education as he, kinaata, believed he will make it as a musician. His first album was first released in 2024. He has been in the industry since 2010. Before 2024, he was known for releasing only singles. He schooled at Takoradi Technical Institute. Kinaata is a household name and has several songs to his credit. He started as a rapper. He has recently shifted to other genres . Interestingly he has songs in several genres of music . He is also known as Fante Rap god. He just released a single track in April, 2025. This song is titled Aban kaba.
THINGS FALL APART
The song was released in October, 2019. The song was a success as it was streamed widely on various platforms like spotify, audiomack and others. This song was produced by a music producer named Twobars . This song was selected out of a number of Kinaata’s song because of the lyrics and the message it carries. Kinaata is known for great songs. Things fall apart is a song that resonates with every Ghanaian. Thus it is prudent that an academic work is carried out on this great song. The research analyses this song to find out the style of Kinaata. The study has picked one of Kinaata’s song and seeks to explore the style of the musician. The study will translate the lyrics of the song and analyse it. The song was sang in Fante, a local language spoken in Ghana . The analysis will use the translated English version of the song.
STYLISTICS ANALYSIS
Stylistics , as discussed earlier , examines language usage in literary texts to bring out the unique writing techniques employed by writers. From the literature , stylistic studies have different metrics of analysis. Toolan (2013) mentions cohesion techniques, modality usage and even narrative structure as some ways of discussing the style a writer presents his /her work .
However ,common analysis metrics used in stylistics are linguistic deviation, collocation , repetition, parallelism. metaphor , personification and sound devices like alliteration , onomatopoeia and consonance.
COLLOCATION
This section of the study will examine collocation as used by Kofi kinaata. Udeze et al define collocation as the habitual co-occurrence of individual lexical items. Some lexical items exhibit a natural tendency to co-occur. Collocation is found either in a phrase or sentence . To understand collocation one needs to understand the culture of the society, in this case the Ghanaian society. The analysis will explain each occurrence of collocation with respect to the Ghanaian way of doing things .The first line of collocation is found in the first line;
Friday chapel all night , Saturday na ye wo club no mo
Friday church all night, Saturday and we are at the club
In this line , we see an extensive collocation. In Ghana Fridays and Saturdays are usually used by churches for worship programs that start around 6pm and close around 1 am the next day. Kinaata collocates Friday with all night. Any Ghanaian who comes into contact with this song will immediately understand the idea kinaata wants to communicate . Chapel as used in the song is very funny. Chapel is an English word that interestingly has become a local word in the Akan languages of Ghana. When a Ghanaian says ‘chapel’ he or she means church and rather the word ‘chapel’ is considered the local translation for church. The first three words of the song collocate. Friday church(chapel) all night . kinaata then contrasts the action with another collocation . Saturday is a weekend where non essential service workers don’t go to work. Here , kinaata mentions that the Saturday is for clubbing. Thus Saturday collocates with club
Again the subsequent line also is embedded with collocation ;
Shocker no gugu cup no mo
The shocker is the cup
Here, shocker is jargon or another name for alcohol drink. Kinaata uses jargons, mostly used by the youth in his songs. Thus shocker , alcohol, collocates with cup. Liquids are kept either in cups, bottles or buckets. Another collocation is found in the line below:
ship na ɔde Bible no bae
ship that brought the bible
Here , ship collocates with brought. Ships are used to transport goods. In this context kinaata refers to the bible being brought to Africa from Europe. It is the ship that enabled the Europeans to bring the bible to Ghana those times.
Ma Jehovafo no rebaa ne ɛrɛguani
And you run when you Jehovah’s Witnesses
Here , Jehovah’s witnesses collocate with run. As mentioned early, one can better understand collocation from the angle of context. Jehovah’s witnesses are known for door to door evangelism. But , most Ghanaians run or hide when they see these witnesses approaching. Kinaata references this activity and collocates run with Jehovah’s witnesses.
Nokware no wɔ hɔ nso asɔfo yi w’ntumi w’nka
There is truth but the clergy don’t say it
Truth collocates with clergy because every priest is expected to be honest and preach against vices. Thus truth is expected from the church and the preist is the best person to display this attribute
31st ɔwo church
31st he/she is at church
This particular line is interesting. The 31st referenced is not just any day of the year than 31st December. In the Ghanaian society , Christians gather at their churches on 31st December to usher the new year. Thus 31st correctly collocates with church as that is the expected occurrence on that day. It is worth noting that even truant church members even make an appearance on that day
REPETITION
Nkansah(2022) postulates that repetition is one of oldest rhetorical techniques of art used to achieve several effects and is a natural means of delivering emotions. Repetition occurs when a word , phrase or sentence occurs more than once in literature. (Nunes et al., 2015 ; Nkansah ,2022). The research found the usage of repetition in the song. The subsequent parts of this section will list them
The chorus is a form of repetition that reinforces the idea. The lines in the chorus creates a repetition . The chorus of the song appears thrice. The first two lines are constant but subsequent lines of the chorus vary.
Nti Nyame som paa na yɛ le som yi a?
|So is it true Godly worship that we are practicing ?
Bisa wo nua, ne bisa woa so wo ho
Ask your sibling and ask yourself
Nyame som paa na yɛ le som yi a?
Is it true Godly Worship that we are practicing
The issues Kinaata wants to address are pertinent and he uses the chorus to draw attention to these issues. Thus he asks the key question in the chorus, is the worship the true one? This repetition goes beyond the word or the phrase to the level of the sentence.
ntumi wɔmba
can't come
In the example above Kinaata says that church has become monetised so poor members cannot come . in the subsequent line he repeats the statement again. As elaborated earlier repetition is key in highlighting issues . This line also shows how the church has changed negatively. This is also sentence repetition.
Krama sɔfoe gye wahom
Imam please don’t bother
Here , the focus is the immoral nature of a particular Muslim or some Muslims. He informs the Imam to give and not bother advising and monitoring the said Muslim. The line above is followed by two subsequent lines that explains why the Imam must give up. Later on , Kinaata repeats the line above and mentions that the said Muslim claims that taking alcohol is not bad. The line above is a sentence repetition
PARALLELISM
Parallel structures play a key role in conveying the key message in the song . In the work there are several parallel structures. Parallelism occurs when there is juxtaposition of two or more identical grammatical constructions that express similar ideas. ( Toolan 2013;Nkansah ,2022 ;) One such structure is ;
Bisa wo nua, na bisa wo a so wo ho
Ask your sibling and ask your yourself
Here the structure poses a question. A question in a parallel form. In this structure. Kinaata introduces the conjunction “and” to create the parallel structure. The structure can be broken into two. Ask your sibling. Ask yourself.
Ennhu Christian, ennhu Muslim, ennhu nkaefo no ennhu sɔfo, ennhu komfo
Enhhu means you can not differentiate
You cannot differentiate the Christian , the Muslim , rest , the
Christian Priest , the Traditional Priest
In the parallel structure above , we see kinaata compare the various religious beliefs in Ghana. This parallel structure highlights the issues of moral decadence he sees in the society. He makes mention of the three main religions in Ghana. These are Christianity, Islam and the traditional religion. To him, the good things about these religions are not being practiced by its supposed believers
Nti|(so) fast life, fast cars, fast track court
The parallel structure talks about using ill means to get wealth or our heart desires. The preceding lines mentions that God will do it for us but we can’t wait that long . So will strive to get : fast life, fast car. The last line of the parallel structure is actually is a reference to a type of court in Ghana where cases move at a faster rate. He uses this parallel structure to talk about the things an average Ghanaian desires even if it is contrary to his/her belief.
Parallel structure have repetition embedded in them. Thus we see a repetition of the word fast in the third parallel structure in the song. “Ennhu” in Fante is spelt as one word but it mean you can’t see. Thus the parallel structure also creates a repetition of this sentence
METAPHOR
Toolan (2013) posits that a creative metaphor put words in the company of other words with which they never ordinarily associate. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two objects . Closely related to a metaphor is a simile. Udeze et al define a simile as the comparison of two unlike things by using ‘like’ or ‘as’ to point out their similarity. It can be argued that simile is overt while metaphor is covert. Metaphors or similes are rife in human communication.
In the song kinaata does not use any direct metaphor. He uses one simile . This simile is a comparison though not direct but indirect. As stated above similes share similar features with metaphors as both are for purposes of comparison. The line below is simile in the song.
Na ɛtale obi nu kun dɛ plaster yi
And you are stuck to someone’s husband like plaster
In this line a promiscuous lady is being compared to a plaster. Plasters are used to conceal wounds. This comparison can be extended to mean parasite also. Kinaata compares unmarried ladies who chase after married men or are in relationships with married men.
ship na ɔde Bible no bae yɛ no
ship that brought the bible
Nkrɔfo sie nara nso di schnapp no bɛ yɛ
People say it also brought the schnapps
This metaphor compares the white man to the ship. The ship metaphorically refers to the white man, the individual who introduced Ghanaians to the bible and schnapp. This contrast Kinaata uses is based on the belief that a Christian must abstain from alcohol . Thus the white brought both good and evil to the Ghanaian
Sikasɛm ne nti chapel ahiafoɔ ntumi w’mba
Money issues don’t allow the poor to come to church
The line aboves shows that the church has changed it has become a bank or a financial cautious body. Instead of evangelising the message the church is interested in taking from the members than giving to them.
Chapеl yi w’wɔ schools paa nso members yi w’ntumi w’nkɔ bi
The churches have money but members cannot attend
This line is in line with the previous line discussed. The church has schools and these schools cost so much members can’t afford to take their wards there. This line equates the church to a for profit entity. The church is now a place where money is a priority. This is a diversion from true Christianity
Part time Christian, you want fight full time devil you dey joke.
This is one of the funniest lines in the song. This line compares Christianity to fight. Kinaata equates a part time Christian to a soldier or boxer or wrestler who is not adequately prepared for his or her fight. Such a person will surely lose the fight.
CODE-MIXING
Pharamita et al ( 2021) posit that code-mixing involves a speaker alternating between one language and another at the level of sentence or mixing different languages within a single utterance . In a multilingual context like Ghana code-switching and code-mixing are widespread. A careful analysis of the lyrics show that Kinaata engages in both . He mixes Fante with English thoroughly in this song. This can be said to be his style but interaction with Fante speaking people will reveal the widespread usage of code-switching and code-mixing by Fantes while speaking. As a Fante singer, it is then not surprising that Kinaata employs code-switching and code-mixing in this particular song.
CONCLUSION
Kofi Kinaata’s Things Fall Apart is a linguistically rich song that uses stylistic devices to critique religious hypocrisy and social decay in Ghana. The study saw the usage of : collocation, repetition, metaphor, parallelism, and code-mixing, Kinaata communicates deep social commentary in an accessible and relatable manner. The study reveals that his style is deeply rooted in Ghanaian cultural norms and everyday language practices. This stylistic approach contributes significantly to the effectiveness and popularity of his music.
Kinaata is seen as one of the songwriters Ghana has ever had. This study proves that kinaata indeed deserves this accolade . His usage of stylistics devices create a beautiful , enjoyable and meaning-filled song
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- Harry Milton Hayford (Author), 2025, A Stylistic Analysis of Kofi Kinaata’s song "Things Fall Apart", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1578548
