Ghanaian Reggae and Dancehall artiste, Ras Kuuku
The topic of music sampling has sparked a debate on social media after Ghanaian rapper, Obrafuor sued Canadian rapper, Drake for sampling his 'Oye Ohene' remix on his track 'Calling My Name' without permission.
While some artistes see it as a form of creative expression and a way to pay homage to their musical influences, others view it as outright theft of intellectual property.
Popular Reggae-Dancehall musician Kojo Kurankye, also known as Ras Kuuku, is one such artiste who believes in the former school of thought.
Ras Kuuku, in a 3news.com report, believes that sampling is a normal practice in the creative industry and has been going on for a long time.
He pointed out that "there's no musician who hasn't sampled somebody's music, do you know the songs we've sampled and our songs that have been sampled by others?"
Although he does not have an issue with sampling, he believes that his children in the future could seek compensation for his music estate.
Regarding his music, Ras Kuuku acknowledged that some of his songs have been sampled by other artistes, and he has also sampled the music of others.
He believes in allowing people enjoy music and earn a living.
He said, "You see those people by the roadside who just put music on pen drive. I've always said we should leave them to enjoy because the thing is not coming from you, who is going to take money from them. You've also given them work since the government can't give them jobs, so allow them to chop."
ADA/DA
