DJs Put Pressure On Musicians -Kwabena Kwabena

Kwabena Kwabena

Highlife musician Kwabena Kwabena has admitted that Disk Jockeys (DJs) in Ghana sometimes put pressure on musicians to produce songs that fit their playlists.

Kwabena Kwabena’s submission adds to the ongoing debate by entertainment pundits, industry players and musicians about who determines what kind of music trends at a given time.

“As to whether DJs determine the songs which musicians should produce, I will say that if you study how the presentation has become currently, people want to play songs that sink in back to back to back and as a result this creates some sort of pressure on the musicians. When this happens, you will have to keep the songs in the peak times and you are forced to do something that falls in line with the trend,” the ‘Adult Music’ hit singer stated on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review.

Kwabena Kwabena, who is part of the few young musicians putting Ghana on the map through highlife, was also quick to add that despite the fact that DJ’s sometimes prefer songs that fit their playlists at specific times, “I think if your song is good, the DJs will play.”

“For me as an artiste, I feel that you create something so that your fans will be amused by it. But then no one can run away from the fact that you want some publicity too and you need to study the trend that is banging around the time you are doing your song so that you won’t go way out of line.  You need to keep up with time and as an artiste that is how I see it,” he said.

The ‘Aso’ hit maker also disclosed that sometimes several factors—like beats and who produces the songs—go into play before music trends are established within a certain period.

“With the trends too for me, I think there are so many factors. You have to consider world beats, African beats and then you consider your local beats. It also starts from the studio. There are times when a producer emerges and begins to play according to a certain line or his sample or tones are quiet appealing for the time so that can sway anyone. But then as an artiste, you are to get bits and pieces of that so that your originality will not be lost. It is quiet dicey,” he added.

However, Kwabena noted that before he decides to bring out a new song, he studies the trend in order to produce a tune that will fall in place.

“This doesn’t have influence on me. My only headache is, I just have to study the trend, how people have to jam and try to bring a tune that can fall in place. But as to how the rhythms are going, I don’t think about it that much. I just want to keep up with time,” he said.