Music is the expression of deep emotions and feelings that have become a common language in the world. Language differences do not affect music so long as it is pleasing to the ears.
Global hits such as “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and ” Gangnam Style” by PSY have proven that music in different languages can still be enjoyed by people.
The Ghana music industry some years back did not get enough attention overseas as it is getting today. Highlife dominated the music scene for a long time until Hiplife and many other genres were introduced.
In the late 1990s, highlife artists such as Daddy Lumba, Dasebre Gyamenah, and many more helped change the face of the Ghanaian music industry. We had good rappers like Obrafour, Tiny, and Lord Kenya, who were the best at that time and who popularized hip-life after Reggie Rockstone discovered it as a way of backing local dialect with high-life. Fast forward to the early 2000s, we had Mzbel with her hit song “16 Years”, which became a hit in Nigeria and other countries as well, and VIP with “Ahomka Womu”.
Gradually, the genres of music expanded, leading to Afrobeats, a musical style with African roots that have recently impacted entertainment all around the world, Dancehall, and many more.
In 2014, British Ghanaian singer and rapper Fuse ODG made a hit song “Azonto” featuring Tiffany, which gained recognition in Africa and overseas as well.
This moved the music industry to another level. Also in October 2019, Sarkodie became the first artist to win the Best International Flow award at the BET Hip Hop Awards, making it a big achievement in our industry.
In collaboration with foreign artists, we had Fuse ODG with Sean Paul and Ed Sheeran, Sarkodie with American rapper Ace Hood, Stonebwoy with Keri Hilson, and Shatta Wale with Beyoncé. Even with all of these, people still think the industry can do better.
Nigerian music is the most enjoyed music in the world, making them the best music industry in Africa with amazing artists like Davido, Wizkid, and Burna Boy. But Nigeria is not only about these superstars because some other upcoming rappers and singers are also causing waves with their hit songs, becoming super famous in Africa and globally.
This makes a lot of Ghanaians bash our artists for not doing so well in terms of getting global recognition as Nigerian artists are getting.
They criticize their crafts and call them “selfish” because they fail to support each other in the industry. In most instances, artists blame Ghanaians for not supporting them like the way they support Nigerians. Others also criticize Nigerian artists for not supporting Ghanaian artists the way we do.
Our media also play a role in promoting Nigerian songs by playing them more during entertainment segments than Ghanaian songs at times and do not use them more for commercial purposes.
Surprisingly, on Apple Music’s top 10 in Ghana, it is dominated by Nigerians, but it is not vice versa in Nigeria where a Ghanaian artist will dominate their chat until recently when young sensational artist Black Sherif made it possible with his hit song “Kwaku the Traveler” alongside with Camidoh’s “Sugarcane” remix which features Mayorkun, King Promise, and Darkoo. Arguably, most Ghanaian artists end up beefing with each other over unnecessary things.
To some extent, one can say that Ghanaian artists do not invest in marketing their songs. Thanks to technology and social media platforms, new songs can go viral within the shortest period. With the help of social media platforms such as TikTok, Ghanaian music is also creating waves internationally.
TikTok has proven to be a good marketing tool that can be used to promote songs. It helped promote Gyakie’s song “forever”, which became a massive hit in Africa in 2021; Kidi’s “touch it” Black Sherif’s “Kwaku the Traveler”, Camidoh’s “Sugarcane” and Lasmid’s “Frida Night”.
This has made it easy and simple for these younger artists to put Ghana on the map. Black Sherif’s “Kwaku the Traveler” earned a world record on Shazam on April 7th, 2022 as it became extremely popular on TikTok and became another talk of the town when American rapper Dj Khalid posted a video of himself enjoying the hit song.
For the music industry to get better, Ghanaian artists must invest much more in their crafts and continue to be more creative if they want to earn global recognition as Nigerians are doing.
They need to take their marketing strategies very seriously and promote their songs. Music has become a great marketing tool for companies to use for advertisements, hence, Ghanaian artists must put efforts into it since it attracts listeners as well in this digitalized era and reaches more people.
As long as the sun continues to shine, a lot of people are still going to share their opinions about the music industry, and with the help of upcoming and already existing artists, we can say that, hopefully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the industry to flourish.
