Ghanaian sound engineer and producer Kaywa, has stated that Ghanaians do not value and realize what they have when it comes to music.
According to him, he has had a couple of encounters with some Nigerian artistes who agree with this assertion.
“Ask a Nigerian artiste about Ghanaian music and they’ll genuinely tell you that they built their craft off it”, he shared.
Talking to Kokonsa Kester on Y 107.9 FM’s Weekend Rush Show, he said, “Even Nigerians believe that their sounds come from Ghana and yet, we don’t believe what we have is indigenous enough to project us. We’re rather running away from those sounds and looking for foreign sounds”.
He emphasized that established Nigerian artistes are who they are today because they listened to old Ghanaian songs. “And yet still, we don’t believe in ourselves. We will rather project others than promote what belongs to us”, he stated.
Relating this to an experience he had, he shared, “I worked with Don Jazzy and D’banj and they couldn’t just wait to collaborate with Lumba on a song. They have been listening to Lumba all this while. Then, I was managing Lumba and when I mentioned it to them they wouldn’t believe me…”
Kaywa believes that the problem with Ghanaians is that they do not believe and appreciate what they have, and end up promoting other genres than promoting what is theirs when most of these genres are sourced from Ghana.
He thinks that the time has come for Ghanaians to embrace what belongs to them, and promote their music to the rest of the world.
By: Gyamfuah Owusu-Ackom