Blakk Rasta called for the prioritisation of Ghanaian music content in the country
Ghanaian reggae artiste and broadcaster Blakk Rasta has joined calls for deliberate measures to protect and promote local music, blaming Ghanaians for what he describes as a persistent lack of respect and support for homegrown artistes.
Reacting to comments by Keche Joshua on the hype surrounding Nigerian artistes and the lack of respect for Ghanaian acts, Blakk Rasta said Ghanaian artistes are often mocked on social media even when their songs achieve international success.
“If it were Blakk Rasta who had made the song, they would have put it on social media and trolled him. Because Ghanaians don’t know how to respect their artistes,” he said.
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He cited an experience involving Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale during a trip to Nigeria with Menzgold CEO Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), claiming the artistes struggled to receive crowd support despite efforts to energise the audience.
“When Stonebwoy was on stage, they stood as if they didn’t know him. When it was Shatta Wale’s turn, he was smart to remember that he had a song with Burna Boy, so he called him. You could see that when Burna Boy came on stage, the crowd was giddy. The moment he left, they went back to being dead,” he added.
Blakk Rasta argued that Nigeria’s music dominance is the result of a deliberate strategy to protect its music industry, noting that Nigerian music consumers and stakeholders once shut out foreign music, including songs from other African countries, to solidify their domestic market.
“The Nigerians shut the door on other countries and made sure their music foundation was solid before they started allowing trickles. But Ghana, because some of us are idiots, they allow anything,” he lamented.
He warned that the lack of structured support has left the Ghanaian music industry “suffocated,” with many artistes struggling to earn a living from their craft.
Blakk Rasta, therefore, called for the introduction of music quotas to prioritise Ghanaian content on radio and other platforms, stressing that deliberate action is needed to grow and sustain the local music industry.
“Let’s deliberately give a certain quota to our music. Lets grow our industry,” he urged.
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