Sounding the same won't help Ghana’s music success — Ex Doe

Renowned Ghanaian hiplife musician Richard Siaw Akrofi, known widely as Ex Doe has sounded the alarm about rising copycat tendencies among budding Ghanaian artistes.

In an interview, Ex Doe noted that imitating the sounds of fellow musicians will not help Ghana's music industry achieve success on the global stage.

“Nowadays, everyone wants to sound the same because singing is selling. Upcoming artistes want to sound like Black Sherif and Kuami Eugene, among others, and for me, this is not a good sign for our music," he stated.

The veteran rapper argued that Ghanaian musicians should focus on developing the country's strength in rap music rather than copying trends from other genres.

“For me, I believe we should focus on rap music and build on it, because we have an upper hand than other countries like Nigeria, whose artists are focused on doing more singing," Ex Doe remarked.

He acknowledged that commercial pressures make it tempting for rappers to drift towards singing.

“But you can’t blame rappers in the modern era because there is more airplay for singers than rappers in recent times. In the past, it wasn’t so because there was enough radio play for both rappers and singers," Ex Doe noted.

However, Ex Doe is adamant that originality and innovation are necessary to put Ghanaian music on the global map.

“I believe the Ghanaian rap game is being weakened by rappers doing more singing nowadays. For me, a rapper should stay a rapper, even though you might do some little singing for your choruses," he concluded.