Ghanaian musicians should instead concentrate on promoting Highlife rather than competing with Nigerians in the Afrobeats genre, according to sound engineer and music producer Appietus.
He claims that the majority of Afrobeats artists worldwide are from Nigeria, and artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Asake, and Temz are among the genre’s most well-known figures.
According to him, it would be difficult for a Ghanaian artist to become well-known worldwide and that attempting to mimic or blend Afrobeats with other genres—like Amapiano—would also not be successful.
“Nigerians now own Afrobeats and there’s nothing we can do about it. We will just be copycats if we keep on doing that. It’s going to be difficult competing with Nigerians on Afrobeats. It is just like how you can’t take Dancehall and Reggae from Jamaica,” he said.
Appietus advised Ghanaian musicians to rather focus on Highlife, the music style that reflects their originality, rather than competing with Nigerians over Afrobeats, which they have dominated globally.
He added that Ghanaian musicians should modernise and promote Highlife, the music style that is rooted in Ghanaian culture and history, since it has been successful before.
“Let’s sell ourselves and culture and stop competing with others over their music genres. We have sold our music type before and Nigerians were nowhere close. So, we can do it again,” he added.
In conclusion, he advised Ghanaian musicians to focus on showcasing their unique culture through Highlife rather than competing with others in genres dominated by different nations.
Credit to PulseGh/Shinemegh.com
