Disunity among Akuapem rappers hurting music industry – Koo Ntakra

Winner of MTN Hitmaker Season 2, Koo Ntakra, has expressed disappointment at the spate of disunity among rappers from the Akuapem ridge.

Born Isaac Akuffo, the 26-year-old ‘Ohemaa‘ crooner says the reason there is no unity among rappers from the Akuapem ridge is that all of them (Akuapem rappers) are focused on doing their own thing which he claims stifles effective collaboration.

“That is the problem there because everybody sees himself as the boss, I am the originator, I am that but if things like this happen, it will be very hard for the upcoming rappers to come out,” he told The Ghana Report in an interview.

He further mentioned that this ‘unnecessary’ competition is what is preventing many talented upcoming rappers from the region from making it in the music industry.

“If you need people like Pope Skinny, Shancoma to support you and they don’t, how can you come up?,” he quizzed rhetorically.

According to Koo Ntakra, he has tried his best and committed so much to bring rappers from Akuapem together but all his efforts have come to not. The frustration, he says, has compelled him to channel his efforts into more profitable ventures.

“So for now, I have committed everything just to focus on my career and to work on my own,” he added.

Even though he said he could not comment on the relationship that existed among rappers from other regions, he’s convinced musicians from Takoradi and Tema do well to support one another, citing Sarkodie and Kwesi Arthur’s relationship as an example.

Background

The music landscape in Ghana is characterized by cliques based on the particular region different artistes come from or the different Ghanaian languages musicians sing or rap in.

For instance there are the Fante rappers, Ewe rappers, Akuapem rappers, Tema-based musicians or Nima Musicians to mention but a few. Even though there have been individual musicians who have proclaimed themselves kings of these informal
cliques, they are united on several fronts.

However, it seems Koo Ntakra is yet to see that kind of unity among Akuapem rappers.