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| Shatta Walle, a Ghanaian music artist |
And the Ghanaian DJ said, “We will start something, the Nigerians will pick it up and polish it, and they are gone.” He is a UK-based Ghanaian DJ who was visiting Ghana. He was asked how Ghanaian music was doing abroad.
Ghana has hundreds of successful music artists. The issue, though, is that their number isn’t proportional to the Ghanaian population. Plus, Ghanaians want to be the best, an aspiration that you find in many African countries.
I also listened to Shatta Wale, a famous Ghanaian Afro Hip-Hop artist, talking about the fact that Nigerian music has gone far, and that Ghana will never close the gap in five million years. Though Shatta Wale is very famous for his brutal truths as he is for his music, I don’t agree with him a hundred per cent.
I have also listened to Ghanaian music artists whining about the fact that Ghanaian promoters are more preoccupied promoting Nigerian music, rather than Ghanaian music.
It has been the constant worry for Ghanaians, the issue of the gap between Ghanaian and Nigeria music. The gap can be closed faster than folks think if Ghanaians understand where the problem lies. Matter of fact, Ghanaians should not be thinking of closing the gap between them and Nigeria as far as this subject is concerned. They should just focus on improving their music.
I want to believe that a lot of Ghanaians don’t even believe Shatta Wale. At least, the passion for careers in music hasn’t diminished in Ghana, despite his opinion.
Recently, I have been watching a Ghanaian TV channel, named TV3. Each time they play Ghanaian music, I watch, as often, with the eyes of a music analyst, rather than just a music fan. For most of the videos I have watched, the problem is the issue of originality, the issue of a natural feel in the music, the issue of spontaneity. Originality is what makes the music professional and conquering.
Let us be specific about the issue. When an artist is performing, whether in a video or live, for instance, he displays an attitude. The attitude is triggered by the music. For the video or performance to convey that feel of originality or spontaneity, the artist should not be acting more than the music is pushing him to. It amounts to falsification. Its consequence on the music is very grave, despite the fact that people underestimate it. Unfortunately, this is the case, the issue of overacting, with most of the videos I have watched.
Overacting is one instance of harm that can be done to originality as the issue of originality is broad, cutting across the vocals and the instrumentation.
Understanding originality shouldn’t scare wannabe artists. You just need to understand the concept and watch how it plays out in professional music. You will be surprised that it takes five weeks rather than five million years.
