Opinion: Tema music dead! Yet significant

Music they say is the food for the soul. The music industry in Ghana is undoubtedly a very vibrant industry.

The birth of hiplife music opened the flood gates for all kinds of talents to be honed in the music industry. In fact, hiplife has come to stay. Thanks to the father of hiplife music, Reggie Osei aka Reggie Rockstone.

Musicians worldwide have sought to project their countries or cities they hail from. When we look at the United States of America (USA), hip hop artistes have composed songs to hype their places of origin. For example, Papoose, Jay z, Nas etc have tracks to hype New York City.

Also the welcome to Atlanta track by the crème de la crème of Atlanta hip hop music such as Snoop Dog, Ludacris, Jay D etc is another classic example.

Down here in Ghana, VIP now VVIP is synonymous with Nima. Shatta Wale also hypes Nima and Korle Gonnor and even refers to them as the Shatta Cities.

In the early days of hiplife, Dansoman was the hub of hiplife music in Ghana. There we saw artistes like K.K. Fosu, kokoveli, T blaze, Jay D, Ex Doe and Bat Man (now Samini). The Ashanti international record label owned by Nana King played a significant role in projecting the Dansoman Community (DC). In fact those were the days of DC 12 and Shaolin Monk fu.

Since the decline of the vibrant DC hiplife music, the lyrical baton was handed over to TEMA.

Tema music for the purposes of this article refers to the Tema based musicians or hiplifers that actively ruled and controlled the hiplife scene from the year 2006 to 2010.

Tema music, produced music artistes like Dadie Opanka, Stay Jay ,Yaa Pono, Nana Boroo, Tiffany, Chris Waddle, Kofi Korea, Danso Abiam, Eduwordzi, Yaw Siki, R2Bs and Sarkodie.

Sound engineers like Posigee, Kaywa and Kill beats cannot be left out. These were guys who produced hit songs after hit songs. These guys threw the spotlight on Tema music.

For 4 years they were the hot cakes in Ghana. Hit song after hit song was coming from Tema. In some instances, while performing on stage, they all wore t-shirts with the inscription; Tema boy. These were times that it was so prestigious to be called a Tema boy.

However, it is so clear that a chunk of them are nowhere to be found in recent times. Indeed they are in a musical hibernation. We no more hear of their hits like we used to.

Looks like R2Bs and Sarkodie are the only relevant surviving artistes now. All others are either in oblivion or struggling for relevance again. We no more hear the Tema hype .Point is, Tema music is dead!

Despite the loud silence of Tema music in recent times, it is important to state that Tema music has left some significant foot prints on the musical journey in Ghana.

What readily comes to mind is the way Tema music projected and marketed musical talents in Ghana and beyond. But for these crop of musicians, Tema was noted for commerce. Commerce was what the harbor city of Ghana has been noted for since our basic school days.

Indeed, until Tema music came main stream, Tema was noted for the Tema harbor, Tema oil refinery (TOR), Sanyo Ghana, Tema Steel Factories , planned communities in Ghana etc.

Tema music showed to the world something we didn’t know .It told a new story about Tema. Although there have been some artistes in the past such as Okra Tom Dawidi and Kwaw Kese, these latest crop of Tema rappers that followed were vibrant like never before.

It was in this light that the true meanings of the acronym TEMA was revealed as Tell Everyone Music is Alive. What a wow!

Another significant thing about Tema music was the united voice with which they spoke. Yes! The trinity emanated from DC but the uniqueness of the Tema musicians was the conscious and consistent manner with which they were ready to help each other.

There were times that even when they were going for shows they came in convoys or would be rapping in the bus along the journey till they got to their destination. The seeming ‘touch one touch all’ attitude by the Tema rappers was so unique. A classic example was the fair warning track (perceived to be an Asem diss) this was indeed unique. I am saying, Tema hiplife artistes were so united!

Again, their fearless attitude toward rap battles and freestyles was significant. A musical habit that positioned rap battles well within the hiplife fraternity. This started from the Doctor Duncan show days. The days that rappers that won most of the battles were from Tema. Talk of Sarkodie , Kofi Korea, Yaa Pono to mention but a few.

This also played a role in putting Tema music on the right footing. No wonder they made such great impact on musical stage in Ghana. Boys-boys were ‘bluetoothing’ mix tapes from Tema and surfing the internet to find the latest Tema group rap battles and freestyles. For example, Sarkodie’s Gimifuo on Rick Ross’s Am So Hood cover.

In fact, at the initial stages, Tema music was an epitome of free styles and rap battles. To the extent that till date, pundits are divided as to who is really the freestyle rap-battle king; Sarkodie or Yaa Pono.

Furthermore, it's my humble opinion that, while the Bukom –James Town folks invented the azonto dance, Tema composed the right azonto hits to compliment.

This is quiet controversial but I explained the points in my article on azonto dance. In short, the Bukom-James Town folk invented the azonto Dance while Tema composed the right azonto hit songs to take the dance international. The history of azonto cannot be written without the mention of Tema music. Simple!

Finally, Tema music gave Ghana contemporary hiplife music’s finest; Sarkodie. This is the man who defined his mission and predicted his future and has and is still achieving. Sarkodie is the most successful hiplife musician in Ghana. He is the true definition of hard work and success. This is a multiple award winning artiste with international appeal. It is an undeniable fact that this dude is putting Ghana on the world musical stage.

I can only admonish him to look beyond the sky since there are foot prints on the moon. Go sark!

In conclusion, the point must be made that Tema music popped up onto the hiplife scene with great enthusiasm at the initial stages. Just like any human endeavor, after some time, a majority of the hiplife artistes from Tema lost their positions on the musical ladder in Ghana.

However, it is my contention that Tema music left some indelible marks on our hiplife music and must be celebrated. These included the revealing of the untold musical story of Tema, the united way the Tema artistes came across with their music, they positioned rap battles and freestyles so well on the musical ladder, they sold azonto music to the whole world and finally gave Ghana the artiste that is currently bearing the hiplife torch and projecting Ghana positively on the musical stage despite the enormous challenges.

As to whether Tema music will pick up again, time will tell. I am not so sure of the next community to meet this high standard set by these Tema artistes but for now I can only say these guys came, they saw and left a legacy.

email:brownprints3@gmail.com