Reggie Rockstone
Rap superstar Reggie Rockstone has beseeched music consumers and critics to be respectful when they share their thoughts on the works of musicians.
Rockstone, 59, has observed that technological advancements come with implications, for better or worse, for both artistes and their creations.
The themes and style of music have also changed, as is to be expected with the passage of time, he added.
This, however, in the eye of the Hiplife pioneer, does not warrant unkind and unconstructive criticism and comparison to music of Hiplife's heyday.
"The White people have a word – 'evolution'. Times change," he remarked. "Actually, it'd be worrying if people were trying to sound like we sounded or spoke on the things that we did [in the 90s] today."
This is "because we're in different times," the rapper reasoned.
However, he noted that "The fundamentals remain the same. Good music is good music. I understand that."
Rockstone pointed to the drastic change in the way people access music.
"Today, I can't tell my daughter or 18-year-old son about cassettes and nightclubs," he said. "He owns a laptop and goes on the internet to download music," meanwhile, "in my time, you had to drive from Suhum to Kantamanto or wherever to buy one cassette and then learn all the lyrics."
"Times have changed for good and for bad," he noted. "Modern technology has its repercussion; it comes with its good and its bad."
The businessman recalled booking studio time back in the day "and it was by the clock. If you were not finished [producer] Zapp Mallet [still] had to go home. Today [in comparison], these kids have studios on their mobile phones."
Light-heartedly, he noted that "Shatta Wale can put out 100 songs on Facebook," due to technological advancement. "Things have changed and I don't expect the realities of my time to reflect in today's music."
Maintaining that "good music is good music," he asked consumers of music to "remember that music is like food; it's very personal."
He explained that everyone has their preference when it comes to food.
According to Rockstone, he does not understand how "people disrespect other people's music.
"I never understood it. If you don't want to listen to it, put it off on your device."
He contended that what one may see us unenjoyable music "to somebody else, that's their favourite song."
Reggie Rockstone, nicked Hiplife Grand Papa, at this juncture shared that he is not "judgemental" when appreciating music.
"I respect the fact that you've put out music. If I don't like it, I just don't like it, meaning I don't have to listen to it. Can I critique it? Yes, I can, but that's about as far as it goes," he said. "If I am asked, I am diplomatic and respectful enough."
"Art is free and nonconformist," he posited.
Also, "what you enjoy is what you enjoy, that's all. To each their own," the 'Eye Mo De Anaa' hitmaker stressed to Nana Kwesi Asare on Class 91.3 FM's 'The Big Show', Saturday, April 15, 2023.
