Hiplife legend Okyeame Kwame also known as Rap Dacta has made a staggering revelation that Californianism has swallowed the Ghanaian media.
Speaking as a special guest on Channel One TV’s The Chat, Okyeame Kwame in response to whether he believes most of the young creatives are moving away from the Ghanaian way of doing things, mentioned that the media has been influenced by American culture instead.
“It is just that the media has been swallowed by Californianism… Californianism is the Americanisation of global cultures. American cultures have taken over the world because their movies are so beautiful, their music is so beautiful, and their music videos are beautiful…so they have found a way through hip-hop music and pop culture to sort of take over the pop culture of the world and because of that, it is much easier to plug your art into the American system so that your art will be visible than it is to plug it into the African system,” Okyeame Kwame explained.
“For example, after you are done making your album, you will put it on iTunes, Spotify or Apple Music, which is more American…then when you go online, you cannot find a place that says Hiplife or Highlife.. but you will find Hip-hop and Reggae but wouldn’t find the Ghanaian sound there. I’m not blaming anyone but I am saying if you are an artiste like me and you really want to be visible, you just create a hip-hop channel and you just plug it into the already existing channel for distribution and visibility.”
The rap legend expatiated that “so with that, it has become very easy and economically sensible for artistes to do that and by so, we sort of lose ourselves slowly..so what I am doing is being intentional about keeping the origins of my sound.”
The Chat which is hosted by Ekow Koomson, airs every Saturday on Channel One TV from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.
Watch the video below.
“Americanization of Music Industry Forces Artists to Adopt Foreign Style for Visibility, Not to Abandon Their Roots,” – @Okyeamekwame
Do you agree, or you have another opinion? Let us know in the comments #TheChat w/ @pk_koomsonn pic.twitter.com/0h4a3rumLS
— ChannelOne TV (@Channel1TVGHA) July 7, 2024
