Accra, June 3, GNA – Charles Nii Armah Mensah popularly known as Shatta Wale has stated the need for Ghanaians to identify our music with one common genre.
According to the multiple award winning Reggae and Dancehall artiste, he struggled to answer a question about Ghana’s music identity during a recent meeting with foreign music investors in the United States of America (USA).
In his address to the nation especially music industry players, Shatta Wale opined the need for musicians to come together and identify themselves with a common genre that would help to gain global recognition.
“While in the USA I was in business meetings with different foreign stakeholders and investors and one common question they asked was, the kind of music Ghanaians make?
“The question kept me thinking but basically, they wanted to know what genre we are known for and I found that interesting. I want to propose that we as stakeholders come together and identify ourselves with one genre that can be attributed to all music works coming from our part of the world.”
Shatta Wale added that giving our music a common identity would aid Ghana to gain the needed recognition in the world of music.
He urged music colleagues to pay attention to the business aspects of doing music thus seeing their talent as a business entity.
“Let’s learn to make money with our talents. Let’s invest in educating ourselves about how to add value to our craft and make a living out of it. We should be able to make money even when we are not in the studio,” Shatta Wale asserted.
Shatta Wale during his address also rallied for massive airplay for Ghana music thus giving playing 90% of Ghanaian songs and 10% for other foreign genres.
Additionally, Shatta Wale urged the government to use music as a tool in promoting the country thus spending 10% of the Sports budget on music promotion.
GNA