The movie director who is a regular pundit on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review made this comment, Saturday, on the back of Sarkodie’s statement that radio presenters who have not been to BBC or Choice FM – both abroad- have no moral right to criticize Ghanaian artistes for not going international.
While hailing Sarkodie as “one of our biggest artistes”, Socrate mentioned that it is imperative Sarkodie paid attention to his utterances, “repackage” himself in terms of interviews “and be on point so you don’t veer”.
“At this point, I think he lacks one thing. One of the key things I taught artistes I groomed was interview skills. I read from a book that as an artiste, your interview skills are paramount because it can bring you down and it can also lift you high,” Socrate remarked.
He continued: “Every artiste should have a pack of answers for a pack of questions. We don’t graduate in radio as though you were in Division One and moved to Division Two. Getting to BBC or CNN as a Ghanaian radio presenter is not graduation but a movement from one sector to the other. It’s not a law; neither is it part of the system to reference in your submission that the person hasn’t improved.”
In his recent interview with Fire Stick, Sarkodie speaking in Pidgin English expressed concern over the pressure on Ghanaian artistes to break boundaries. He could not fathom why radio presenters who have been on the local scene for years would criticize musicians for not penetrating territories.
“Those boys who now dem dey claim Naija, before Naija go tone up, they did not want to be associated. They were all in their corner. But as the Nigerians projected the game, now even an American rapper can claim to be from Nigeria.”
“It is easy for somebody to sit on radio and tell you Shatta Wale no do this,” he said but have a caveat that he does not mean artistes do not have things they need to achieve.”
“You, you dey radio for Ghana for close to 20 years wey you no fit come enter Choice for here or BBC. I don’t think you have the moral right to talk about artiste wey e dey Ghana wey e no move. Because me I go BBC because it is Komla Dumor wey e make I go,” Sarkodie said.
But Socrate disagreed with the musician as he punched holes in the narrative. He mentioned that the local media has contributed immensely to Sarkodie’s career and does not deserve such utterances.
“When we say ‘go international’, it’s an expansion of market. It doesn’t mean if you’re in Ghana and hasn’t gone international you’re not good. Going international has many dynamics… You sat on local platforms to push your brand; out of this, you got certain links,” said the filmmaker.
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Socrate Safo is a movie maker and pundit