Songwriter, Panji Anoff has explained how growing up between Ghana and Germany influenced his approach to culture, identity and social expectations.
Speaking with Richie Mensah n his new podcast, Anoff, who was born in London to a Ghanaian father and German mother, said being connected to multiple cultures made him question the idea that traditions are universal rules.
He described his mixed background as both challenging and liberating.
“Being mixed or half cast, whatever you want to call it, is a blessing and a curse,” Anoff said.
He explained that the difficulty came from not always feeling accepted completely in either society.
“In my father’s country, they would say, ‘Oh, Brun, you go back to your country.’ In my mother’s country they will say go back to your country. So where is my country?” he said.
However, he said that experience also gave him independence.
“Because you are always an outsider it gives you freedom. So now I don’t have to do what everybody else around me is doing,” he explained.
Anoff said his background allowed him to see cultural practices differently because he understood that many traditions are shaped by location rather than being universal truths.
He used greeting customs as an example, comparing Ghanaian expectations around using the right hand with practices in other countries.
“In Germany nobody cares if you greet with your left hand. Nobody cares if you give them something with your left hand. In Ghana, they do,” he said.
According to Anoff, travelling and experiencing other cultures helps people recognise that many social rules are cultural preferences rather than absolute laws.
“I think being an outsider makes you look at culture as not being as important as other people assume it is,” he said.
He added that his approach has been to take what he values from different cultures and create his own identity.
“It’s my job to forge my own or choose what I think is good from my mother’s culture. Choose what I think is good from my father’s culture,” he said.
