Kumasi has produced a lot of great rappers since the beginning of Hip-Life;
the likes of Reggie Rockstone (Originator of Hip-Life), Lord Kenya, Okyeame
Kwame, Flowking Stone, etc. That is if I’m to talk about Kumasi rappers who
have been rapping for more than a decade. I would say most of them had a
great run but what they failed to do was sow a seed. They are Legends
alright but they didn’t create a Legacy. Most didn’t have protégés; they
did not train the young ones who looked up to them. I quite remember one of
my artist friends told me about how one of Kumasi’s own mainstreams
verbally abused him when he proposed an idea that would help boost his
emerging career. The verbal abuse wasn’t necessary if you ask me, but it
happened and the reason behind it only he knows.
A Kumasi disc jockey will gladly download an outside Kumasi mainstream’s
song and happily play it on air without any fee. A young Kumasi artist will
go to the same disc jockey’s office to give him a song to play and Mr. Dj
would be like, “Pay this fee and I would play your song”. A mainstream
artist, who sells albums, performs at gigs at a cost and a young Kumasi
artist who has a dream to be raised by his city. I guess you know what I’m
driving at.
I’ve observed a lot of young artists in the city get arrogant when they
feel like they’ve been accepted by the city. Most decide not to work with
the other artists in the city because they feel bigger than them. Most
artists also feel they don’t need to feature because the featured will
dominate the song with their better verses. It’s funny when you think about
it. If you feel this way then you should learn more and become better
yourself or work with others to improve your skills. The more you work with
other artists, the more you learn. Artists in Kumasi need to collaborate
more to put the city back on its feet.
All the Kumasi artists are working hard to get recognized by the city to
push them beyond. Not saying working solo isn’t good but if there was to be
a Kumasi Music Union, it would be much easier to push the artists to
represent us in the big leagues. Imagine a union full of music artists,
disc jockeys, event organizers, radio/TV stations, etc. Kumasi would climb
back to the charts easily because of all the helping hands.
To all the artists who leave Kumasi to the capital for breakthrough due to
the many opportunities out there, I don’t blame you. It’s good to move
around to get your music out there but you should know where you are coming
from and rep it to the fullest. If the city becomes great again, it would
be beneficial to everyone including you. Don’t forget the city you were
raised in.
Kumasi Music has fallen to the cracks but if we will rise again, we need to
change our approach and work hard to improve. Kumasi Music will rise
again!!!
Yours faithful,
Ice Box (Rapper-Writer)
..
Facebook: Ice Box, King-Icebox Cnlsu
Twitter: @IceBox_CNLSU, @TheBOTeam1
Instagram: icebox_cnlsu
email address:
icebox.cnlsu@gmail.com
