Reggie Rockstone has argued that there’s nothing wrong with Ghanaian artistes sounding very much like their Nigerian counterparts as the trend has been in recent times.
Making his point clear in a recent interview with Graphic Showbiz, Reggie who touts himself as the originator of Hiplife (the amalgamation of indigenous rhythms which is Highlife and Hiphop) said there’s nothing wrong with artists where sampling beats or sounding like Nigerians because they first started coying out the style of music first.
Reggie stated;
Personally, I’ve had people approach me about this issue behind the scenes but truthfully, what is there to worry about? I don’t think that what these young boys are doing is not happening all over the world.
In the heyday of Hiplife, I personally know that Nigerians sampled our beats and even recently when Azonto was the in-thing, it took over Nigeria, Africa and beyond. So what is wrong if our boys and girls are also sampling their beats and copying their styles?
If this is what is trending, there’s nothing wrong in jumping on the bandwagon as far as you are talented. Fela Kuti, who is credited as the originator of Afrobeats, took lots of inspiration from Ghana and particularly, Highlife music.
However, it always becomes a sort of rivalry or competition when it is Ghana taking something from Nigeria. These complaints and unnecessary matches make Ghanaians look petty and envious of Nigerians which shouldn’t be so.
Reggie Rockstone also noted that Nigerians were all over the place because they were more patriotic towards a cause than Ghanaians.
He then said regardless of all that, we should see this move as an African projection wrapped in unity as envisaged by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
“Well, there’s a saying that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ and since Nigerians are all over the place, it makes sense to follow what is working for them. Besides, Kwame Nkrumah championed for such a cause where Africans can have same songs to enjoy so I think this falls within that.
“Just last year, Black Sheriff took over Nigeria with his music and that tells us that Nigerians also admire us. The only difference is that they are always business minded and so ready to cash in on every situation,” he added.
SOURCE: www.Ghgossip.com
