Renowned sound engineer and music producer, Appietus, is urging Ghanaian musicians to shift their focus away from competing with Nigerians in the Afrobeats genre, citing the latter’s widespread recognition and dominance in the music style globally.
Nigerian artists like Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Asake, and Temz are among the top names associated with Afrobeats worldwide, making it challenging for Ghanaian artists to break into the global Afrobeats scene.
Appietus, known for his advocacy for highlife music, emphasized the importance of Ghanaian artists embracing their originality instead of imitating Afrobeats, which is predominantly Nigerian.
Speaking as a panelist on the Graphic Showbiz X Dialogue, Appietus cautioned against blending foreign genres like Amapiano with Afrobeats, as it could dilute Ghanaian artists’ authenticity.
“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,” he asserted.
Appietus further discouraged attempts to merge Amapiano and Afrobeats to create a Ghanaian sound, emphasizing the importance of modernizing highlife music and presenting it uniquely to the world.
He urged Ghanaian artists to embrace their culture and original music styles, rather than trying to compete with others in foreign genres.
Francis Doku, a media consultant and former General Manager of 3 Group, echoed similar sentiments, advocating for moral persuasion rather than enforcing the #PlayGhana initiative as a regulated policy on Ghanaians.
Source: ghmediaahub
