Play Music That Can Stand The Test Of Time-Prekese Ghanamedia Charges Ghanaian Musicians

In his interview for the Reggae Island book, Jamaican DeeJay and Star musician, Fisher Dread quoted Bob Marley who described a seasoned musician as someone whose albums and tracks are timeless: Bob Marley advised " When making the Music think about 20 years from that time and visualise if it still be played and enjoyed by your fans and your people". What a visionary man he was: Bob's own music is timeless: Tracks such as One Love, War, Redemption Songs, Roots Rock Reggae, Jamming, Africa Unite, Zimbabwe, Rat Race, Kaya.............do we have to list everything? Did you see yourself singing along as we were mentioning the names one at a time? This standard is what we at the Prekese GhanaMedia is using as our foundation upon which to classify our popular Ghanaian classic and contemporary music and the musicians to determine who can be classic as a top Ghanaian musician. Please note that the list posted is not an exhaustive one, we are opened to more suggestions as our goal is to educate and entertain our readers on Ghanaian popular music and its artistes:

When we posted the following names below, on the page of the Facebook group, HIGHLIFE TIME-CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MASTERS, we posted a question and unfortunately nobody answered only one person ( James Danso LIKED it:

NANA AMPADU
EK.NYAME
AGYAAKU
KOFI ANI JOHNSON
AMAKYE DEDE
J.A ADOFO
DADDY LUMBA
AKWESI AMPOFO ADJEI
KOJO ANTWI
KOJO AQUAI
JOE MENSAH
NANA AGYEMAN OPAMBUOR
ABIREKYIEBA KOFI SAMMY
EWURAMA BADU
FELIX OWUSU
SAMUEL OWUSU
SUPER YAW OFORI
FRANK MENSAH
NANA ACHEAMPONG
NANA AGYEMAN AKA GEMANN
PAAPA YANKSON
C.K.MANN
ASEBU AMANFI
ALEX KONADU
DR. K. GYASI
NANA TUFFOUR
POZO HAYES
F.KENYA
TONY WIREDU
A.B.CRENTSIL
SNR. EDDIE DONKOH
K.K.KABOBO
REX OMAR
AKOSUA AGYAPON
PROFESSOR KOFI ABRAHAM
BOB COLE
JAMES DANSO
EBO TAYLOR
YAW SARPOG
MASTER AKWABOA
KAKAIKU
We asked about what all of them have in common: Though the question was generic, what we wanted readers to do was to consider why we had selected those few people out of millions of many top Ghanaian musicians: Now the answer is provided by what Bob Marley called on all musicians to do in the introductory note: YOUR MUSIC SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAND THE TEST OF TIME: With that in mind, can you start without sweat to at least come out with one top song for each of the following musicians above because each of them has/had some popular hits that are timeless and people can sing along: Ready ! Let's Go.....You can even share the fun by sharing your favorite track from each of them as part of your comments:

Among the above names, some enjoy super stardom because their music are played almost everyday somewhere in Ghana. We are talking about Ghana based regular Radio stations and online stations that play what they called ADADAMU: There are certain musicians whose music enjoy regular plays at most Ghanaian community events such as outdooring, graduations, festivals, and funeral celebrations: Yes, they do enjoy that air-play for one good reason:

But the question is what makes these peoples music classic and timeless:? What is the secret? The secret is not far fetched, it is the lyrics ( WORDS).....Let's put it well, it is the message in the Music: In Ghana, our music and its messages reflects events in our life cycle:

Messages in a good music makes it timeless: For example in Yaw Sarpong's Tie Me Mborbor Su.....He gives hope to the depressed and the person with little hope to continue to depend on God through prayers to see His Glory: Similarly, In Obuoba J.A. Adofo's music Nya Asem Hwe....He cautioned Ghanaians to be careful about who to trust in a world of uncertainity and forecast that one will know his true lovers and admirers when he/she is in trouble or need help:

Abrante3 Amakye Dede gives hope and advises all to work hard, in a sort of no pain no gain situation via his Dabi Dabi y3b3 Yie song: When Nana Kwame Ampadu sang the Obra song, he was calling on all of us to be responsible for our actions. In K.K. Kabobo's song "Nyame Ehu Wo"......he makes fun of bad people and warns everyone who dabbles in vices that the omnicient God sees every deed of us:

Ghanaians love our romantic songs so we have the maestro Kojo Antwi, whose almost all his albums are timeless: We suspect that Kojo as a former member of the top Reggae bands Classique Handles and Classic Vibes, might have heard the call of Bob Marley to be timeless: Tell me which party in Ghana or Ghana abroad will patrons assault a dee jay when Kojo's music is played at the appropriate time? Top DeeJays such as Nabosko, DjPap Solo, Dj Kofi of Germany, Dj Dr. Pinto, Dj Dr. Beat aka Twumasi, Dj Joe Amee, Dj Charles Eloh, Dj Azigiza Snr, Dj Kurtis Jnr, Dj Ashmen, Dj Young Joe, Dj Vee Jay, Dj Harry Lord, Dj Cee Jorge, Dj Precious Jingles etc will all tell you that a good dj should always play the timeless popular hits for the fans not what the dj loves: In the days of intense mobile discos in Ghana, these top djs commanded a lot of respect because they were proficient in their acts: And any album's popularity depends on the way the djs present it: Even though today that role is being diversified because of the emergence of private radio stations in Ghana and online radio stations operated by Diaspora Ghana:

The presentation of popular music today in the community apart from live bands, are mostly done via radio or by road show groups popularly known as spinners in Ghana. These djs/presenters know how to select good music to make the occasion very enjoyable and programme appropriate and relevant: This makes their works very neccesary and in higher demand. If one's music is good with quality message, one does not need to pay PAYOLA: The music presented is determined by what occasion or event it is being celebrated: For instance, during funeral rites in many communities songs from the Masters such as Alex Konadu, Nana Agyeman Opambour, Amakye Dede, Adofo, Asebu Amanfi, Samuel Owusu,Paapa Yankson, Pat Thomas, Jewel Ackah, Felix Owusu, Dr. K. Gyasi, Yamoahs, C.K Mann, Ani Johnson, Nana Tuffour, Kofi Sammy, K. Frimpong,Tony Wiredu, Frank Mensah, Pozo Hayes etc would be heard. Lyrical contents of their songs console the bereaved and give support to the celebration in the right mood:

There are other life cycle, recreational and socio-political events and situations that also determine what messages has to be presented in a music. In all one thing is common, the composer has to have in mind," how am I going to appeal to my audience?" Should I sing seasonal songs so that my music will be forgotten after 2- 6 months or I should aim at being timeless?" To all new and prospective Ghanaian artistes, be it sacred or secular, remember your audience and tailor your messages to meet their needs else your music will be what the students call nine days wonder ( one hitz wonder) Is that what you want to do after spending all the time and resources at the studio?

FURTHER READING:
REGGAE ISLAND-Jamaican Music in the Digital Age-Brian Jahn and Tom Webber

HIGHLIFE TIME-CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MASTERS- Harold Akyeampong ( Coming Soon)