LIMA, OHIO SUNDAY, JULY 28, 1991

Reggae. Make it funky, roots rock, dance hall or rock steady, they are all cousins. It is the music of the people, designed for rebellion and protest, but best suited for dancing, swaying or just sitting back in the sun and listening.

Wan Afrika featuring the African singer Kwame will bring that music to Lima for four Square Fair performances. "Ours is a music to uplift the people," Kwame said of the reggae originals the band performs. "The music is about truth. People are receptive to certain truths. When the truth is out there, the people embrace it."

The personal views that most often work into his music are issues of peace and self-understanding, according to Kwame. He believes these ideas serve a twofold purpose, to draw the listener in, and to teach the listener to better deal with life. "We are what we are and that’s all we are,’ Kwame waxes. "Once we understand that, it makes life a little easier."

"I came to the United States with the purpose of changing some illusions into a reality. That really is always there, buried under the illusion. My music helps dig through the illusion." Kwame emigrated here as a 20-year-old in 1980. He moved from Los Angeles to New York and back a few times taking work where he could find it to sustain himself while playing nights in clubs and on campuses throughout the country.

Now 31, and settled in Chicago, Kwame and his band split their time between playing the variety of reggae clubs in Chicago and touring nationally where they find a surprising number of reggae fans. "They like reggae in the Midwest," Kwame said. "They have clubs featuring reggae seven nights a week. There aren’t many clubs in America doing that. The people, they like the music no matter where. There are good musicians here in Chicago and many venues to play. This is a good place to be right now. My life is very fine. I don’t know what is going to be so I just live. What today is, we live it. That is what we do. That is all anyone can do."

Wan Afrika and Kwame are to perform at 4:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the north stage and at 7:00 p.m. Friday and 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the center stage.