Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2020

17 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com explained, Gullah — the culture of slaves and their descendants who lived in coastal South Carolina — is an innate part of their being. As they strive to create a more global audience for Gullah through their respective arts, Dennis and Singleton have come to understand their own roots more clearly. As with most self-discovery, it was a process that culminated in deeper respect for the intersection of history, dialect, food, music and so much more. At a time when we’ve been asked to question our values, Singleton and Dennis do not hesitate to hold onto what they know is theirs: a history shaped by blood, sweat and tears; a people fierce in their love of the land and each other; and an understanding that while we might all be different, we have more in common than we can imagine. MOUNT PLEASANT MAGAZINE: Would you say you grew up Gullah? CHARLTON SINGLETON: Absolutely. I was Gullah from the moment I was born. That’s how my family and my neighbors spoke — not that anyone mentioned the word Gullah. We didn’t see ourselves or our community as different from everyone else’s because it was all we knew. BENJAMIN DENNIS: Exactly. It was part of my childhood. You never thought about it; it was just our culture. MPM: When did you decide to infuse Gullah into your art form? CS: Growing up and going to various African American churches, you experience music a certain way. Here, that way is Gullah. While he’s not a descendant, Clay Ross, our guitarist, has been a disciple of the music for a long time, and when he approached us to go out and play Gullah for the world, we initially didn’t know why. And so he explained that we could take the concepts and grow them by putting our own spin and interpretation on the music. And that made a whole lot of sense to us. Ranky Tanky means “work it,” and that is exactly what we do. BD: I started working in local kitchens when I was 19 years old. I was always intrigued with history, especially African culture, but it wasn’t until I left Charleston that it really occurred to me how special it was. I was working in the British Virgin Islands with West Indian chefs who put their spin on specials, and that inspired me to do the same. I’d cooked local Charleston food my whole life, but it became about the importance of being unapologetic about your roots. And so when restaurant pop-ups started taking off in Charleston around 2010, I jumped onboard and started cooking my take on authentic Gullah food — fresh, the way I grew up eating it. feature