I wanted to be the voice for the less privileged – Addi Self

Ghanaian Reggae and Dancehall artiste, Addi Self, has shared his inspiration for taking up the less patronized music genre in Africa, Reggae-Dancehall.

Africa previously used to be a beaming continent flooded with Reggae and Dancehall hits with the likes of Patoranking, Shatta Wale, Samini, Stonebwoy, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Kaakie, MzVee and the infamous Iwan producing classics.

However, the current music space has drowned in a new area of Afrobeats and Amapiano sounds gearing up fans all over the world.

For Addi Self, growing up in Maamobi, a suburb of Accra exposed him to harsh life experiences and he always wanted to capture his experiences uniquely, and share them with the rest of the world. According to him, the best genre that can capture his story and help him to be the voice of the less privileged is Reggae-Dancehall.

“People who have seen my music journey know the rap side of me and keep asking me why Dancehall. But for me, I do everything music. It all started growing up in Maamobi-Nima. Seeing stuff and seeing a whole lot of different things and how to grow up and how the less privileged coming from the ghetto didn’t have a voice. We didn’t have someone always trying to say what’s going on in the ghetto. So, I found myself writing what I saw around me. I see people doing stuff and I tried to blend those experiences with music,” he told Rev Erskine in an interview on Y107.9 FM’s “Myd Morning Radio Show”.

He further disclosed that his father’s taste in music influenced his path as a musician.

“I saw myself loving Reggae and Dancehall so much because my father was a fun of Reggae and he always played Peter Touch, Bob Marley and the likes so I grew up loving Reggae- Dancehall naturally. And obviously these greats influenced me because I started looking at them before I started looking at Ghana artistes and stuff like that,” he added.