Highlife musician Kuami Eugene has expressed his concerns about the music industry’s lack of capacity to support more than one artiste at a time.
He made these remarks during an interview on Hitz FM’s ‘Daybreak Hitz’ programme.
Kuami Eugene pointed to some reasons why the Nigerian music industry appears to be flourishing more than Ghana’s.
He noted that Nigeria benefits from better musical instruments and the ability to produce higher-quality music. Additionally, their larger population attracts more investors who are willing to support local talent.
The artist emphasized that Ghana needs a collective effort among stakeholders to advance Ghanaian music at home. He pointed out that Ghana often favors foreign music, while in Nigeria, local music are give priority.
“I was in Nigeria, and we were asking some friends why they don’t play Ghanaian music. They have many artistes already. So, before they finish playing their own music, the time is up. When I was there, I had only one Ghanaian song, but I heard it around 2 am. They don’t have space,” Kuami Eugene noted.
He lamented the situation in Ghana where the system seems to support only one artiste at a time, despite numerous artistes releasing tracks regularly. Kuami Eugene argued that there is the potential to support multiple artists concurrently.
“It’s not like we live in a country where we release one song at a time. More people are releasing songs. But our system supports one artist at a time when there’s room for more,” he stated.
Kuami Eugene observed that this practice is particularly evident among female artists in the country.
“It’s even sad when it comes to the ladies’ side. You can’t have five ladies making waves at the same time. It should be one lady for a very long time. Then you see another girl crawling, crawling, crawling. Until they make space for her.
“Then she’ll be there for some time before we see another girl crawling. But we’ve had female artists putting together good music in this country. But I wish it wouldn’t be like that,” he commented.
Kuami Eugene called for broader support for all artistes, discouraging unnecessary trolling on social media and emphasizing the importance of spreading positive news about each other rather than engaging in negative online interactions.