海角大神

When singer Emmerson Bockarie swaggered on stage on a recent evening here, the crowd in front of him seemed to twinkle 鈥� hundreds of tiny flames flickering on and off in the balmy darkness. This crowd wasn鈥檛 waving lighters or glowing blue cellphones, though, but matches, which flamed and fizzled in rapid bursts so that the venue appeared lit by strobe light.

A similar scene greets Emmerson, as he is widely known, nearly everywhere he goes these days in Sierra Leone, a nod to his latest hit single, 鈥淢unku Boss Pan Matches,鈥� a 15-minute Calypso-infused hip-hop track that thumps from taxis and tea shops, corner stores and the rickety boats carrying fishermen into Freetown鈥檚 turquoise harbor.

The title, loosely translated from Krio, means 鈥渁 fool with matches鈥� 鈥� the West African cousin of the proverbial bull in a china shop. The fool, in this case, is President Ernest Bai Koroma. When you give him matches, at least according to Emmerson, the whole country burns.

鈥淭hey used to call us the Athens of West Africa,鈥� a nod to the country鈥檚 storied history as a center of global black intellectual culture. 鈥淲ell, not anymore.鈥�

The popularity of 鈥淢atches,鈥� which meanders through a laundry list of social problems 鈥� corruption, bad sanitation, poor electricity supply, unemployment, swindled Ebola aid money 鈥� isn鈥檛 hard to place. Sierra Leone is poor, its government unreliable and inefficient.聽

And in a country where literacy is low but more than 85 percent of people listen regularly to the radio, politically-minded pop stars like Emmerson have an outsized influence in guiding public conversations.

鈥淥ur political opposition is weak, and many feel that Emmerson does a better job than them at speaking out for the masses,鈥� says DJ Bass, n茅 Mamajah Jalloh, a popular Freetown late night radio host. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say the government fears him, but they are concerned his music has the ability to make a change here.鈥澛�

And with good reason. Emmerson鈥檚 initial rise to fame a decade ago was fueled by none other than Mr. Koroma himself. Then the opposition candidate for president in the 2007 election, Koroma frequently played Emmerson鈥檚 鈥淏orbor Belleh鈥� (big belly man) 鈥� a tune about politicians who got fat off their ill-gotten riches 鈥� at his rallies to energize the crowds.

In at least a few countries with strong musical cultures and weak opposition politics, politically minded artists have successfully made the cross-over from pop star to president. In 2011, Haiti elected Michel Martelly, better known to many of his fans by his stage name, 鈥淪weet Micky,鈥� as president, and Andry Rajoelina, president of Madagascar from 2009 to 2014, originally developed a public profile as one of the country鈥檚 top DJs.

In Sierra Leone, politicians' continued insistence that Emmerson has no potential political influence reads much like a fear that he does.

"Our people [party members] are the ones selling music CDs. We will not sell his music and we will not buy it, just wait and see," Jarrah Kawusu Konte, a spokesman for the presidency, said in April, .

For his part, Emmerson says he isn鈥檛 interested in pursuing elected office.

鈥淲e are not politicians but to some extent we get involved with the political systems,鈥� he told a Sierra Leonean newspaper last month. But ousting a political party, he said, wasn鈥檛 his decision to make. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the decision of the people. All I am doing here is make sure I tell the people 鈥� .鈥澛�

That independent streak is also useful for selling records. The title of Emmerson鈥檚 most recent album 鈥� which dangles from the hands of teenage hawkers on nearly every street corner in the capital, Freetown 鈥� is Survivor, an allusion to his inability to be bought by political interests, Mr. Jalloh says. In early May, government withdrew permission for Emmerson to hold a concert at the country鈥檚 largest stadium in Freetown, according to local news sources. When it refused to give a concrete reason for the decision, it only fueled speculation that there was political opposition to his performance.聽

鈥淲e love him because he praised Koroma once, but now he sings against him because he sees what he has become,鈥� says Joseph Beneton, who runs a small convenience store near Kailahun鈥檚 central mosque. Shouting over the thundering bass of 鈥淢atches,鈥� he says that he has been a fan for more than a decade, he says, and values his ability to put a finger on the pulse of Sierra Leonean politics. 鈥淗e鈥檚 exposing what鈥檚 happening, what others don鈥檛 want to talk about.鈥�

There is no shortage of enthusiasm for Emmerson in Kailahun, a quiet district capital in Sierra Leone鈥檚 rugged green east, and long a stronghold of the opposition Sierra Leone People鈥檚 Party (SLPP). On the evening of his concert in early May, thousands packed into the local stadium, paying 10,000 Leones (about $1.60) to see their idol in person.

For a town that spent more than a year in a kind of suspended animation as a result of Ebola 鈥� with schools, businesses, and public transportation almost entirely shut down 鈥� the energy was particularly electric. Friends danced with their hands clasped as teenage couples cuddled on parked motorbikes and hawkers carried charred chicken kebabs and sweating bottles of Coke through the packed crowd.聽

For 17-year-old Hawa Kamara, Emmerson鈥檚 coming to Kailahun marked a return to normalcy after months of hiding and waiting. 鈥淟ife only really restarted this year,鈥� she says.聽

As for Emmerson, she says his music was an accurate reflection of the Sierra Leone she lived in.

鈥淲hen the government does well, I鈥檓 sure he鈥檒l talk about it,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut it hasn鈥檛 happened yet.鈥�

鈥� Ryan Lenora Brown鈥檚 reporting in Sierra Leone was supported by the International Reporting Project. Silas Gbandia contributed reporting.聽