DJs not key answer to #Play Ghana, let’s go back to producing authentic Ghanaian sounds –DJ Ashmen

Michael Mensah Ashley, popularly known as DJ Ashmen, is urging relevant stakeholders in the music industry to look beyond Ghanaian Disc Jockeys (DJs) being the key answer and architects of the #PlayGhana initiative, which seeks to give more airplay to Ghanaian music during the festive holidays.

For Dj Ashmen, many things were working against the progress of our music, especially with the extinction of authentic Ghanaian sounds, and that should be of utmost concern to players in the industry.

DJ Ashmen’s comments are in reaction to an appeal by the Executive Secretary of the Creative Arts Agency, Gyankroma Akufo-Addo, to our DJs to consciously promote and play Ghanaian music.

At a stakeholder’s engagement recently, Ms Akufo-Addo expressed genuine concern about the declining trend of Ghanaian music on our airwaves.

Hence, the #PlayGhana initiative is being championed by key institutions, including the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Arts and Tourism, Ghana Folkloric Board, seasoned and emerging music talents and DJs, among other advocates for the promotion of Ghanaian music.

She was emphatic that the conscious effort would help to elevate local music during the December in Gh festivities and potentially lead to legislation enforcing the broadcasting of local content. (Related article: Consciously play and promote GH music- Gyankroma Akufo-Addo to DJs)

DJ Ashmen, however, believes that the solution isn’t with DJs playing Ghanaian music always but for musicians to go back to the production of authentic Ghanaian sounds.

“For those of us who have been keen followers of Ghanaian music, we know and remember that our music was the hallmark of African music some time ago. However, something happened along the way that we didn’t find a solution to and that is the results we are getting today.

“In the early 2000s, Ghana music was all over the place, especially in West Africa and even in the UK, it was the only well-patronised African music. At the time, we were doing great, our sounds were banging. Our artistes and sound engineers were winning the MOBO Awards, but what happened?

“Industry players are refusing to accept the fact that something has gone wrong and affecting the new generation. Our music started declining from 2008-2009, but we didn’t pay attention. As a DJ, I know that people love to party with old Ghanaian songs because they have a certain melody, groove and catchy lyrics and are easy to sing along and vibe with,” he stated.

DJ Ashmen explained that despite the great potential of Ghana’s music at the time, we looked down on our original sounds as local and abandoned it, for other music styles such as Crunk, HipHop and Dancehall, which outlived its usefulness in a short time.

“While we were exploring other foreign music styles, Nigeria was doing Highlife music. The likes of P-Square featured Akon and other global hip-hop stars on songs with Highlife tunes but we were here demonising our own.

“This is the seed we sowed many years ago that has come back to haunt us hard because today, the Nigeria that came down to learn from us are miles ahead while we are now even going there and begging them for features.

“Anyone who watched the recent documentary on Nigeria’s Afrobeats will agree with me because the producer confirmed it at the end when he disclosed that what Nigeria knows as Afrobeats is Ghana’s music,” Dj Ashmen said.