Music producer, Appietus believes that despite the popularity some artistes have gained beyond Ghana’s borders, a lack of genre, specific to the country’s music, is hindering the recognition of Ghana’s music globally.
Speaking on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, he said that, unlike Ghana, countries like South Africa, Jamaica, Nigeria and others have a genre that’s known to foreigners who want to explore their music.
He explained that this helps to not only push their artistes but their music to other parts of the globe.
“If you go outside Ghana, Black Stars are known more than our music. What kind of music represents us out there? The moment you say Jamaica, Reggae comes to mind; mention Hip-Hop and America comes to mind; Afrobeat, Nigeria comes to mind, you don’t have to mention the name of any artiste.”
Appietus added “the moment you ask which music is representing us (Ghana) out there, they will start mentioning names and not genres. We had our highlife and Azonto but we left it.”
Appietus believes that it does not matter the genre the music industry decides to stick to but despite the many changes made to the genre if the name stays the same, it could boost Ghana’s image in the music scene worldwide.
“Nigerians are always adding new things to Afrobeats but they are not changing the name. South Africans had Kwaito, and now they brought Amapiano but most of the songs still have elements of Kwaito in them yet they call it Amapiano. They have stuck to it and the whole world has accepted it.”
He noted that regardless of how many genre trends Ghanaian artistes jump on, they would not be recognised as the original creators nor will the genre be seen as Ghanaian.
“Imagine we call our music Highlife or Azonto or whatever it is and we keep modifying it, the people will know that this music comes from here (Ghana) and this is how it sounds. It doesn’t matter the genre, we can always add new things. The more everybody is doing it, it will look good outside.”
