“I know that I am loud! ... I know that I am overly hyper,” proclaimed Ghanaian-British Media Personality MzDru. “Love me or hate me, I’m not going to change, to be honest.”
It was one of several honest and refreshing moments during
this OnAir Magazine interview with
Dru.
She wears being “loud” and “overly hyper” on her sleeves in an environment that would rather she didn’t – a departure from the norm of public figures shying away from the persona associated with them, even if it is the truth.
Dru tells OnAir
Magazine, she looks forward to every opportunity to reach “an audience”
with her self-belief mentality so she “would be able to spread my message
worldwide.”
Dru was born Drusilla Lartey in London, in 1992 to a
Ghanaian-Jamaican father and a Ghanaian-Sierra Leonean mother.
A top 5 finalist slot at the 2013 Miss Ghana UK kicked off
her career in the entertainment industry. She worked first with Bang Radio (now
The BeatLondon), working in various capacities as an on-air personality for two
years.
And then she hosted a popular UK entertainment Television
show, Swish HQ.
She joined Pulse 88 in 2016 hosting prime time show ‘Breakfast
with Dru’ until 2018 when she relocated to Ghana. She has conducted a string of
high-profile interviews with the likes of Emeli Sande, En Vogue, Kuami Eugene,
Praiz, Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Mr. Eazi, Sarkodie and many others.
Dru is also a Music of Black Origin (MOBO) 2018 Awards
Ambassador.
She has hosted events like Burna Boy in London 2018, Afro Hair and Beauty 2018, Ghana Party in the
Park for three consecutive years between 2016 and 2018, Black Women In Business Awards, the red carpet of the 2018 Ghana Music
Awards UK and Black Girl Magic Awards
UK 2018.
Between 2015 and 2018, she was the resident host of the acoustic
music show, Soul Café in London.
In Ghana, Dru is holding out on her own hosting events including the 2018 Akwaaba UK December in Ghana red carpet, Mr & Miss Ghana Teen 2018, Poetess Sophia Thakur in Ghana 2019 and a listening party session for Ghanaian music group, Le Meme Gang.
She has also done voice over work for AfroChella, Dirty Rave
2, Live 91.9 FM and Akwaaba UK.
Dru currently co-hosts ‘Live From The Capital,’ hosts ‘Girl
Code Podcast’ on Live 91.9 FM and co-hosts Rythmz Live, hosts Rythmz Live
Countdown on GhOneTV.
In late 2018, Dru relocated to Ghana from the UK. She talks
to us about the factors which influenced her decision, experiences in Ghana so
far and a lot more.
Interview edited for
length and clarity.
You relocated to Ghana from London sometime in the last
quarter of 2018, what was the light bulb moment that influenced the decision?
So I have been doing a lot of Radio and TV presenting in London. And I basically was looking for a change as I was stuck in the Ghanaian bracket in London as MzDru just the Ghanaian presenter and so in order to get to where I wanted to go – higher – as in mainstream television or mainstream radio, I was under a bit of a glass ceiling so I decided I might as well come to Ghana, back home, build my Ghanaian following, see what it is like to work in Ghana and get a better feel of it. If Ghana likes me, I was going to stay, if they don’t, then I would go back to where I’m from or find another country to try. I want to be international.
Did you have any expectations about raising your profile when you made the decision to relocate to Ghana?
No, I had no idea what it was like. I just saw different presenters doing their thing in Ghana, I didn’t really know that many to begin with. I also had no idea about the radio stations, the TV stations, how it worked, how things worked in general in Ghana. It literally was a massive leap of faith to come out here and see from the bottom. Start grinding and see how the hustle was going to be.
Were there any experiences in the first weeks of relocation that made you question the decision to move to the West African country in the first place?
When I first came, I had one or two connects, Antoine (Mensah) being one of them. And I was thinking is this really something that I want to do seeing how… one thing that was really getting on my nerves was the Ghana timing. Everything is done completely opposite to the way it is in London. I think Ghana’s extremely laid back to the way that we do things in London so I was thinking ‘Dru is this what you really want to do’ because I felt I was taking little steps backwards career-wise instead of forward. Having to slow down, the way I talk, working for free. I was very much used to my fast-paced life *makes the steps of fast-moving human* ‘if we say 12 0’Clock, it’s 12 0’clock but I spent a lot of my first few weeks wasting time waiting for people when I would have meetings, and yeah, I just had to adjust.
Were you shocked by that? Did it make you decide to focus on your goal instead of worrying about the challenges?
It did shock me and made me rethink about whether this is what I really wanted to do but I know that my dream is to be a big radio and TV presenter, then I can get the platform and be able to have a voice to inspire and empower young girls and because that means the world to me. I had to basically do the sacrifice. I’m a woman of integrity, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it so I didn’t want to let myself down most importantly.
Did you use your prior work experiences in London as a bargaining chip or you had to start all over as a novice of a sort in a new space?
Most definitely. In London, I was at my peak so a lot of people knew who I was, a lot of people knew about MzDru. I was presenting for like Burna Boy, and interviewing big celebrity artistes… a lot of these artistes, Kidi, B4bonah were all coming to my show in London for interviews, and when I came to Ghana, it was like ‘who is this girl?’ I started to think that because I wasn’t known in Ghana that people were thinking ‘MzDru the small girl’ and I’m like ‘herh.’
I was taken aback ‘you don’t know who I am but I can’t blame you because I don’t have the Ghanaian following.’ When I was walking around and people like King Promise were like ‘Hey, Dru’ people were shocked like ‘oh, you know her?’ but it is okay, I didn’t let that bother me.
I just realized that you have to humble yourself a little bit, get a feel of what it is like around and then start from the bottom so that’s what I have been doing. I made this big move with a goal to be big out here and that’s just what I’m going to make sure I do!
Did you have to rely on connects to get the word out there something like ‘there is this presenter who is good at what she does so you have to book her to host your shows or be a part of your panel?’
I didn’t have any connects; I just had Antoine (Mensah) we met on Instagram. And so I said I was going to come out and do interning which again is a step back for me considering I had a big job in London and I was getting a lot of money and I basically stopped all of that and started using my savings to spend 100 cedis a day on travel in Ghana and work for free. And so I didn’t have any connects, it was Antoine putting me on the radio once or twice and from that things started flowing. I am a voice over artist as well and so just from people hearing me, they were like ‘okay, we want MzDru to do this or we want MzDru to come host this show’ but I really didn’t have that many connects, if any connects in Ghana so I wasn’t relying on anybody, it was just me and God!
What has been your proudest moment so far since you
relocated to Ghana?
Definitely being on radio, and having a show that everybody loves listening to. A lot of people really enjoy our show and also being on TV as well on Rythmz Live (on GhOneTV). Not many people are able to within that time frame get to where I am already. A lot of people think ‘oh because she is a London girl, she is from London so that’s why she’s lucky.’ No, it’s not true if anything it’s harder because my voice is so high pitched and is apparently harsh on the Ghanaian ear. There are so many good presenters in Ghana and even more aspiring presenters who are all hustling to make it so I think that definitely has to be an achievement for me as I hustled my way through and God has been opening doors.
Is that going to be the peak for you or there is a lot more that you want to do?
That is just one tick off the bucket list. The aim is to be able to have a big following, so that I am able to inspire and empower. When you have a lot of people watching, you have a voice, with that voice people listen to you. Already I get to go to different schools and speak to young girls about my story … I am part of Girl Code (a women empowerment initiative by Live 91.9 FM). I get to speak to younger girls and talk to them about why I am the way I am! Loving yourself, being confident, not caring about other people’s opinions.
If I am able to
have that platform that is solely about inspiring and empowering young girls,
being able to deter them from making wrong decisions that I made when I was
younger, that would be amazing. So I have not yet finished my assignment just
making moves.
How exactly do you use your experiences to empower young women?
Well, they just have to see from the way I behave, the way I move because if you look at me, you would know that I don’t allow my past experiences to affect how I live my life. I am not perfect but I’m also not like your typical average girl, I don’t like wearing makeup for one. I don’t know how people wear make up in this hot sun anyway and I’m not saying it’s entirely bad, but if you are constantly hiding behind it then yes it is bad! Just be confident in who you are on a daily basis. That is the main message I send to everyone. I would say I am a confident person. I do have flaws but you own your flaws, that is the main thing. If people see the way MzDru is on a daily basis – happy, bubbly person, they would be drawn to that and want to know why she is the way she is. That alone, I am sure would get an audience and I would be able to spread my message worldwide.
What would you say differentiates you as a host on ‘Live From The Capital’ compared to previous hosts?
I’ve definitely brought a total vibe… Wild, Unique, crazy girl, always super excited, hyper and of course a different accent. The different challenges – we’ve had the boiled egg challenge, Beta malt challenge … All these different challenges. It’s made it more fun like no other show because people want to know what is trending. What is the next dare? I am sure you enjoyed looking at JKD (her co-host) dressed as a girl. That was amazing! So yeah, I think that’s what I’ve brought to it. It’s been great and I would love to see that MzDru is still on the show in the next 2-3 years.
Anything coming up?
I might be in a movie soon. Other than presenting, I am trying to extend my other talents and dip into that. A lot of people say I am really dramatic so … we shall see I don’t really act on purpose so we will see how it goes.
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Anything else you want to add?
I am fun loving carefree girl. I don’t want stress or to step on anybody’s toes. I am not here to cause any trouble. I don’t want people to put me in that box because “people come from abroad, they take all the jobs, and then they leave.” That is not what I am about.
I know that I am loud! I know that I am annoying. I know that my voice is high-pitched. I know that I am overly hyper but I can’t change it because this is how God made me. Love me or hate me I’m not going to change, to be honest!
The stereotypical Ghanaian girl is very quiet or reserved. They like to watch. I say stereotypical but not all of them. I’m just saying I’m not like that at all I’m an extrovert and enjoy making new friends.
Soon Mz Dru will be everywhere so keep your eyes peeled, say hi if you see me I don’t bite. Also, people can follow what I’m getting up to daily on my social media @mzdru_ on Instagram, @mzdru on Twitter and Facebook.
Note: 2019 interview. Unpublished until this minute...
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