#whereitbegins

Hey I’m Afia Kufuor, 1 of 3 of the new interns on the ‘Where it Begins Scheme’! Here’s my first blog:

Mancunian born and bred Bugzy Malone held a listening party for his new EP ‘King of the North’ at Relentless on Denmark Street.

On Day 2 of our internship Miriam and I were lucky enough to attend the launch party as we were added to the very exclusive guestlist by the absolute legend that is Hermeet Chadha.

On entry guests were able to choose from a variety of Caribbean dishes provided by Dub Plates Kitchen. This included curry goat, stewed chicken or salmon with rice, plantain and coleslaw. Thumbs up to whoever’s idea that was.

It was love at first sight when I was served boneless curry goat within just 10 minutes of arriving... and from that moment I just knew it was going to be an excellent night.

The next eye catching feature was the impressive cake made by AB cakes. It was literally a life sized version of Bugzy’s upper body, replicating the ‘King of the North’ EP cover.

The night itself was hosted by Rude Kid and guests were able to hear the album for the first time and gain an insight about the production process of each song. I can confidently say that you guys are in for a treat when the EP is made available on Friday 14th July.

Impending Silence of Vows broken

sending impulse to heighten sensations

of joy

in a numbness, frantic static without void

nay not a stillness in sight.

Forgotten peace

only creative catalyst of will

Vibrant wildness

bursting seams of self illusion

constant sombre anchors

attached

to

the

soul

no

longer

now speaking

breathing

true silence

of sound

no boundary of touch

soul to soul

a homecoming of joy

of light

Through transcendence

of I

to is

and a we

I want to start off by saying that I do not blog, and usually do not jot down my thoughts, unless it is something I need to remember. I usually talk to myself, through my thoughts and feelings, however, I’ve recently gotten the courage to write things down.

My life has been pretty normal, aside from having a huge family and being the youngest. My parents have always worked hard to provide for my siblings and myself, and always gave us more than we asked for. 

I moved 286 miles away from home at 19 years old - chasing a boy. That didn’t work out and I had too much pride to go back home, so I worked 70+ hour weeks and found an apartment and a roommate. In 2015 I met my husband, we fell in love and got married in 2016 & purchased a home. 

My life was destined to change in 2018. Starting off the New Year sick with muscle aches, fever and cough, I saw my primary care physician, who shrugged off my symptoms as the flu and prescribed Tamiflu. Two weeks later, I was in no better shape, but this time, I was having a hard time with movement. My hamstrings were soo achy that it was impossible for me to get out of bed, let alone walk at a normal pace. I called my doctor and was advised that this was ‘normal’, so I decided to see another doctor. 

With the initial examination by the new doctor, she was baffled at my symptoms and sent me out for bloodwork immediately. One week later, I received a call stating my bloodwork was positive for the ANA Enzyme found in patients with  Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, however, to avoid a false positive, I would have to go in for another round of bloodwork. 

All said and done, before my 27th birthday in February 2018, I was properly diagnosed with Lupus. The previous years, I’ve had symptoms, but no doctor was able to pinpoint exactly the issue or cause of my health concerns. As I recall In 2016, at 25 years old, I was hospitalized for Pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium, two thin layers of a sac-like tissue that surround the heart). At that time, I was then assigned to a Cardiologist, who kept reminding me that I was too young to be having heart issues.