High-life legend, Ben Brako, has expressed concerns over what he says is the westernisation of Ghanaian music.
He said it was unfortunate that Ghanaian artistes do not appreciate their identities and do not let that reflect in their musical works. According to him, the trend has made it difficult to identify music from Ghana due to Western or the Nigerian style in our music.
“One of the key things is self-worth, and knowing who we are and where we come from. I think that Ghanaians have not done well at all. You look at Nigerians and they are very proud to be Nigerians, they will do anything and everything to show that they are Nigerians,” Ben Brako told Onua FM
Speaking on Onua FM’s entertainment programme, GH Classics hosted by Papa Kofi Nyarko Ben Brako said he was disappointed that some Ghanaians try to conceal their identity in their music.
“You meet a lot of Ghanaians who want to pretend that they are not Ghanaians and those who accept that they are Ghanaians also feel that they’ve come a long way from their native culture so they try to stay away from it,” he said.
He added: “You meet a lot of Ghanaians who don’t even want to eat Ghanaian food because they think it’s primitive…People are talking about hip hop and so they are doing the hip-hop culture, the way they dress, the way they talk”.
Ben Brako also chastised some radio and television hosts speak like foreigners, something he said is influencing the youth. That he said is making it difficult to appreciate the country’s rich culture and heritage.
Touching on the recent beef between hip life musicians, Mr Brako said it is a typical feature of hip hop culture which hip life musicians are copying.
“Sometimes they think it gives them publicity and that all publicity is good publicity but sometimes they take it too far”.
By Geraldine Amaning|3news.com|Ghana
