Veteran Highlife musician, Gyedu Blay Ambolley says the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards scheme is a curse to the Ghanaian Highlife music.
Even though a lot of Ghanaian music lovers applaud the organizers of the award scheme for always stepping up their game each year while some musicians continue to find faults with them because things are not happening as they expected.
Mr. Gyedu is one of the musicians who finds VGMA as a main contributor ‘killing’ the Ghanaian Highlife genre.
According to him, VGMA is one of the awards schemes that gives a false impression to people living in the diaspora that everything is done right but the opposite happens even though it is one of the most anticipated music event in the country.
Speaking further, he said VGMA organizers only gave their attention to artists pursuing others genres leaving Highlife behind.
“It is unfortunate that people think when you sing in Twi or Fante over a Dancehall or Reggae beats it automatically makes it Highlife music. That is not true but it has become the norm over the years because these are the kinds of music VGMA rewards.”
“Today, if anyone wants to have an idea of what Ghana represents in terms of music, I bet the person will not count any Highlife artist since all the big artists are currently not doing Highlife.”
“We have buried our own and pursuing Dancehall and Afrobeats music. Interestingly the VGMA has been promoting this agenda by rewarding such artistes with the topmost awards.”
Talking about how the media has refused to fight for what belongs to the country when it comes music he said;
“The media cannot be absolved from what is happening to Highlife music now. They don’t do their own research to ask critical questions. For instance, if an artist plays Reggae beats and sings Twi or Fante, we call it Highlife music which is totally wrong because Highlife has its own beats.”
“The members on the Selection Committee of VGMA should be guilty because they don’t make the right decisions when it comes to selections. So if critics say Highlife music is dying, it means some people are not doing their work well.”
