Appietus urges Ghanaian musicians to embrace originality over Afrobeats mimicry

Ghanaian

Renowned sound engineer and music producer, Appietus, has urged Ghanaian musicians to shift their focus away from competing with Nigerians in the Afrobeats genre, citing the latter's substantial global recognition.

"Names such as Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Asake, Temz, all of whom are Nigerian artistes will easily come to mind

Read full articlewhen Afrobeats artistes are mentioned all around the world," Appietus said.

Acknowledging the formidable presence of Nigerian artists in Afrobeats, Appietus stressed the difficulty for Ghanaian artists to secure top spots globally in the genre. He encouraged them to embrace their original music styles, particularly highlife, which he has long championed.

During a recent panel discussion on the Graphic Showbiz X Dialogue, Appietus cautioned against the trend of Ghanaian artists mimicking Afrobeats, urging them to preserve their originality instead.

"Nigerians now own Afrobeats and there's nothing we can do about it. We will just be copycats if we keep on doing that," Appietus asserted, drawing a parallel with the inseparable connection between Dancehall and Reggae from Jamaica.

He also cautioned against blending foreign genres like Amapiano with Afrobeats, emphasising the importance of maintaining Ghanaian artists' originality and authenticity.

"Lately, I see people trying to blend Amapiano and Afrobeats to make it Ghanaian, that won’t work too. We will just be copycats if we keep on coming up with that mixture. Let us modernise Highlife the way we want and present it to the world and see what will happen," he urged.