What makes a song Ghanaian? – Jayso asks

Few days ago, rapper/producer/singer Jayso of Skillions Records took to his Twitter handle to ask some salient questions about the music industry in Ghana that have been left unanswered for a very long.

We reproduce in full (partly delivered in Pidgin English), the questions and subsequent explanations given to what was, a thought-provoking and intelligent presentation

Q: If I may ask, what makes a song Ghanaian?

Q: Dis song no go fit hit for Ghana. You dey waste your time. Ghanaians don’t have time for ‘good’ music. Dem wan dance” I ask, is this true?

Q: If I no do danceable song the DJs go bounce my track. How i go make money?” – common words uttered by many GH artists. Again I ask, True?

Q: Are we creating a fair industry? One that supports all the various art forms? One that allows creative people to express themselves?

Q: If she can’t make dance records because it is not her style. Or maybe she can’t dance to save her life. Are we saying there’s no room for her? I mean 1st off she doesn’t have any funding. Zero. Her best bet is to quit. This is the story of 1,000s of upcoming GH musicians.

Q: This isn’t about dropping names or dissing popular/mainstream material. It’s about creating room for alternative Ghanaian music. Do you know what’s even retarded? Here I am talking about alternative GH music/arts …When’s the last time u heard traditional GH music on air?

I bet many people think I’m bashing other musicians for doing dance records. If that’s your thought, wait for my upcoming dance song.

Let me tell you what ignited this. As a producer, I come across many musicians. Both popular & upcoming. I met this young lady sometime this week. She sings beautifully. She’s pretty & got so much talent. She just graduated from school & wants to do music full-time. By full-time I mean taking it as her profession. No manager. No label. Just passion. She’s submitted her songs to many media houses & the response at 1st listen is “this won’t do well in Ghana”. “DJs won’t play it” “Go back & do some danceable songs”. Now this is where it gets tricky.

Was advised not to speak on this because radio/TV folk could sabotage me. Hey, I came from little to no support.

I don’t care if my music receives zero spins. The purpose is bigger. I’ll continue to do it for those who want me to.

Shouts to those giving hope a chance.