Berima Amo, a Ghanaian musician who lives and works in Amsterdam, has discussed some of the challenges that our music industry faces.
The multi-talented musician said in an interview with Sammy Kay that his education at John-Teye school gave him a firm foundation and made him a grounded person. Hence, his exploit in the Americas and Europe.
Arima Berima
When questioned about the reason why his music is not well-known in Ghana. Berima Amo stated that his soothing music is apart from what we enjoy in Ghana. The type of music Ghanaians enjoy here is not widely accepted elsewhere, he continued, and vice versa.
He did, however, go into detail on Ghanaians' underappreciation of hi-life music.
He claims that the gatekeepers of the Ghanaian music industry are nothing more than chatterboxes. A trend that needs to end since gatekeepers help musicians by working hard as well.
He claimed that Nigerians embraced the genre and transformed it into Afrobeats because they disliked their own hi-life music.
Berima praised Nigerian gatekeepers for their international networking skills. Also, praise for the musicians' aggressiveness and humility in advancing their trade. He suggested that Ghanaians can learn from Nigerians in order to succeed outside of Ghana.
For instance, Berima Amo mentioned in the interview that he encouraged Shatta Wale to pursue a career in acting after his song "I know my level" won the Hi-life song of the year award at the VGMAs.
He suggested that he be taken into consideration for a hi-life festival in Holland. But festival organizers ran into issues at the conference in Holland. Considering that Shatta did not consider himself to be a hi-life musician. Consequently, was not paid to perform.
Despite his response, he claimed that despite lack of media representation, Ghanaians enjoy hi-life music.