Be original and don’t copy - Gyedu Blay Ambolley advises musicians

Highlife legend, Gyedu Blay Ambolley has urged the Ghanaian music industry to strive for originality and not copy from places to dilute our genres.

He wants Ghanaians to be proud of their music, especially Highlife and other indigenously originated music genres. This he believes will project the national identity and make our musicians standout everywhere we go.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanaweb at ‘Dinner with the stars’, an event to honor him, the 'Ragam Ragam Zo' hitmaker noted that upcoming artistes tend to copy music from foreign origins to the detriment of our local genres, leading to a disinterest in our original music.

There have been concerns in the music industry that genres such as Highlife which has brewed legends like Ambolley, the late Paapa Yankson etc is dying out. This has been attributed mainly to the adoption of foreign styles, the most recent being Nigerian.

Many artistes have now adopted Nigerian accents, a situation Mr Ambolley believes diminishes Ghanaian authenticity.

He contends the industry will suffer long-term adverse consequences such as an identity crisis and lack of creativity if the situation is not reversed.