Ghana’s music industry has come a long way and it still has a long way to go but today we get to celebrate the strides local artistes have made in expanding their music catalogue.
This expansion has given room to a lot more new artistes and sometimes old talents to also shine in the industry.
Years ago, Ghana had a variety of artistes ruling the industry. From Highlife to burger highlife to contemporary highlife moving onto hiplife, reggae/dancehall and even Afrobeats. We had it all.
Lee Doudu, George Darko, Charles Amoah, Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi, Daddy Lumba, Nana Acheampong, General Marcus, Reggie Rockstone, Lord Kenya, Obrafour, Ofori Amponsah Castro, Daasebere Gyamena, VIP, BUKBAK and many others. We really did have it all.
Music in the last decade
But as years went by, the music tastes expanded so much one would think breaking into the industry would have been an easy feat. The last decade saw Ghana hold on tightly to a number artistes and closing off many others.
With a demand for a certain music style, it became tough for some young talents to break into the industry and subsequently make a name for themselves. This was mainly because we had a handful of artistes reigning the industry while others were given the back seat.
So, becoming huge household names when equally brilliant talented acts who were already in the industry were not hailed as much as the selected few was a difficult ride.
The era of the Ss
Not to say the selected were not talented. Quite the opposite, actually. In the past decade, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Samini and Shatta Wale captured the hearts of many Ghanaians with their talents and their willingness to explore genres of music beyond the ones they are known for.
Their music transcended the borders of Ghana earning them, and the country, some international accolades, features and awards including the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) and the BET Awards.
With catalogues like ‘Necessary Evil’ (released in 2014 by Stonebwoy), ‘Mary’ (released in 2015 by Sarkodie), ‘Untamed’ (released in 2018 by Samini), ‘After the Storm’ (released in 2016 by Shatta Wale) it is easy to understand why people loved and continue to love these acts as much as they did.
They have immense talents and still to this day continue to explore their artistry even better. This has fans increasingly falling more and more in love with them. Every up and coming artistes in that decade wanted to fall into a certain category of the Ss.
Who wouldn’t want to be when you could have a concert designed for you yearly. Either you are like them or beat them to succeed in the industry. This at the time was not an easy job to do – they set the bar really high.
Inflow of foreign music
But, with a narrowed view of Ghanaian music came a narrow catalogue of Ghanaian acts and talents. Thus, people found themselves listening to a lot more foreign music especially from Nigeria and the US.
Though the Ss were and still are good, there were a few other acts that had a unique touch in the industry.
They may not have had huge fan bases as the Ss but artistes like Efya, Castro, MzVee, R2Bees, M.anifest, Kwabena Kwabena E.L, VVIP, Joey B, Pappy Kojo, Kaakie, Edem and a few others treated Ghanaians to good music.
These artistes were treasured by the fans because they brought the diversity needed, however little, in Rap, Hiplife, Hiphop, Dancehall and Highlife that people were calling for.
Luckily, the power and influence they held, added to that of the Ss, kept Ghana music afloat so it would not drown in the many foreign music that had taken over the airwaves.
The era of the Ks
For a long while, even though some Ghanaians called out the lack of diversity in the industry, music lovers had their hooks in the Ss and the few others – and they seemed unwilling to let go.
Fortunately, with a cry for help came the need to open up and soften hearts to new talents. Thus, one lucky breakthrough brought a flood of talents that seemed to open the door of the industry for the much-needed growth and diversity.
Some new artistes started to break the status quo. They were tagged as the Four Ks in a 2019 article. In that article, the writer stated that these young men, Kuami Eugene, KiDi, King Promise and Kwesi Arthur, in barely two years after their names popped up, broke through the tight Ghana Music Industry and made their way to the forefront.
CEO of 3Music Networks, Sadiq Abdulai Abu, once said this about the artistes on Hitz FM: “Ghanaians wanted to see more than just a few acts dominate. They wanted a future for the Ghanaian music, so record labels worked hard to give them these talents.”
In the article published in February 2019, the young artistes were said to have a Midas touch. To be honest, that Midas characteristic can be seen a lot more now than before.
Check out songs they have released – Sika (King Promise), Say Cheese (KiDi), Show Body (Kuami Eugene) and Nobody (Kwesi Arthur) and ones they have been featured in like No Dulling, Blessing, Jealous and Door. BBC, in January 2021, also named KiDi as one of the 10 artistes in Africa people need to look out for.
The acceptance
It seems with the popularity of these four musicians came the eye opening decision to welcome as many artistes as possible to the industry. The young artistes who had wanted to make it into the industry, now had the chance to make it or say goodbye to the dream of being an artiste.
During the reign of the Ks, Ghana witnessed many other growths. The late Ebony became a sensation in Reggae/Dancehall, Medikal and Strongman’s 2019 beef propelled their growth and Wendy Shay took fans on a ride the moment she entered the industry.
Many of them have come a long way. Kelvyn Boy has proven he does not only have the talent but can also bring some great competition into the Reggae/Dancehall and Afrobeat genres which was previously owned by three of the Ss – Samini, Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale.
His T.I.M.E EP was a gateway to showing fans how he can take advantage of Highlife by infusing it into his songs to create distinct yet familiar Afrobeats tunes.
Akwaboah may not be new in the industry, however, music lovers are giving him more attention now. Many people are recognising he is an asset who has contributed to keeping Highlife music alive.
Source: Fiilafmonline/JoyEnt
