Renowned Ghanaian music producer, Appietus, has identified that one of the impediments hindering Ghana’s music industry from gaining global recognition is the lack of a distinct genre representing the country’s music.
In an interview on Day Break on Hitz, he highlighted the lack of a recognizable genre representing Ghana’s music internationally, contrasting it with countries like Jamaica (Reggae), America (Hip-Hop), and Nigeria (Afrobeat) where specific genres immediately come to mind without mentioning any specific artiste.
“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,” he said.
Appietus also pointed out that when people are asked about the music representing Ghana internationally, they tend to mention specific artiste names rather than genres.
He noted that Ghana had its iconic genres like Highlife and Azonto but unfortunately moved away from them.
“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,” he stated.
He also highlighted the consistency of Nigerians doing all they can to evolve, maintain and protect the Afrobeats genre.
He also mentioned how South Africans introduced Amapiano while retaining elements of Kwaito, which has been accepted globally.
“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.”
Appietus also emphasized the value of developing a distinctive musical identity, regardless of the specific genre, and continued, “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.”
Source: www.ghanaweb.com