"The only thing I don't like about our music industry is those that try to do the Hip Hop; you can't play or rhyme it in their accent better than producers and artistes in America. It's their culture and they live in it", Appietus told Adullai Isshak of Enewsgh.com.
It is true that artistes in Ghana who do Hip Hop cannot do it better than the Americans because of the accent and the fact that it is their culture. But the question is: Do our artistes aim at doing it better than Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West and the likes? Of course not! They do it their own way.
It is true that some people in trying to do Hip Hop use the Locally Acquired Foreign Accent (LAFA), which sometimes is irritating. But we should not lose sight of the fact that others are doing it very well. I do not think Hip Hop is about the language; rather, the beat.
The likes of Sarkodie, Edem, Kwaw Kese do Hip Hop in their respective local dialects. Or because they did not rap in English, their songs should not be classified as Hip Hop? Then categorize these songs: Illuminati, Saa okodie & Elijah by Sarkodie; Who be you, Ma kwan & Popping by Kwaw Kese; Keva, Heyba & Fire by Edem etc.
If Appietus has a problem with Ghanaian artistes doing Hip Hop, why then is he featuring Sarkodie and Kwaw Kese on his Big Bang Compilation? Does he not acknowledge the works of D Black, M.anifest, C-Real, Trigmatic, Asem, Guru, EL, Gemini and many others who are making the industry livelier with variety of songs? Hip Hop consists of rhythmic lyrical form making abundant use of rhyme. It's purely rap.
Now listen to Appietus again. 'When you listen to music from any part of the world, it can stir a feeling within you. When Magic System's "Premiere Gaou" hit Ghana, almost everyone who was crazy for the tune never understood what they said but never cared. All they knew was that they had found some good music'. Nice submission. Is that not the case with Edem?
Couldn't Appietus have at least acknowledged the works of Edem who has been phenomenon with his lines in Ewe? How many people understand Ewe? Yet, he is one of the best artistes in Ghana.
What music genre does he do? HIP HOP! We have Dancehall artistes in Ghana. Will Appietus then say he has a problem with that? Which Ghanaian Dancehall artiste was born in Jamaica? Do we question the Patois language used in our Dancehall tunes? Can we do it better than the Jamaicans? Should one even sing in Patois before it will be considered Dancehall?
He also made mention of we not being able to produce beats as the Americans do. It is true our producers cannot afford the types of equipment used in producing the beats. However, the likes of Hammer, Magnum, Slimbo, Red Eye are doing exceptionally well. For me, the fact still remains that Hip Hop is about the beat; not the language.
He should have rather advised his fellow producers to be original; rather than sampling beat. Well, he is entitled to his opinion.
Source: Albert Benefo Buabeng
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