Support the study of Popular music – M.anifest

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and other organisations in academia have been urged to support the study of popular music because it has more to offer than just entertainment.

A Popular Rap Musician known as M.anifest said this in Accra.

According to him, popular music has several potential which can be harnessed to develop the country.

He was speaking at the Ephraim Amu Memorial Lecture series on the topic “Re-imagining us: the role of popular music in self-actualization”.

Born Kwame Ametepe Tsikata, M.anifest is the youngest person outside academia, selected as the main speaker of the Ephraim Amu Memorial lectures organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The choice of Manifest as the speaker for this year’s lecture is to pay tribute to Dr Ephraim Amu and Prof J.H Nketia, both academics who studied music at the highest level.

The theme for this year’s lecture became necessary with the rise of popular music as one of the most significant influencers in shaping the attitudes of people. For this reason, M.anifest thinks Academia should support the study of Popular music.

The Ephraim Amu Memorial Lecture was instituted by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences through the initiative of Prof J.H. Nketia in 1999.

The annual lecture series has featured prominent scholars most of whom are fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.