Ghanaian ‘Rap King’, Sarkodie has in a latest international interview with Dj Semtex podcast ‘HipHop Raised Me’ show which airs on CapitalXtra in the Uk said traditional media (radio) in Ghana was not ready to play or air his songs when he began his music career.
“Mainstream radio in Ghana wasn’t ready to play any of my record because it didn’t make sense we were just rapping on some beat they didn’t term as commercial,” he said while sharing his experience with the British DJ.
Watch and Listen to Sarkodie interview with Dj Semtex
"Mainstream radio wasn't ready to play my records" Sarkodie
African Rap legend @Sarkodie breaks down how he cut through & built his own fanbase.
For an artiste who earned his prominence through a certain ‘Adom FM Kasahari Level Rap Show’, had his breakthrough hit circa 2008/09, had 2 songs ranked 9th & 13th respectively in the then Joy FM Top 50 songs of 2009, where Social media was just taking proper shape in Ghana, not to talk about streaming services.
Sarkodie on Joy fm in his early days
Someone who uploaded his 1st and perhaps breakthrough song onto his own YouTube channel after 4yrs of release, where did he think all those plays, to get people to love his craft and works came from?
The disrespect for the important role of Ghanaian media especially radio from some of our entertainers when they get the little opportunity to grant interviews with foreign media outlets is disheartening.
Sarkodie, if not mistaking, perhaps would be one of the few HipLife/HipHop artiste in Ghana since 2008 to have enjoyed massive airplay locally, so how then is he telling the world, his songs were refused airplay until the emergence of streaming platforms.
Is Sarkpdie telling us, his ‘Maakye’ album which got him awards in VGMA & 4Syte MVA 09, and subsequently winning him, his 1st Artiste of the Year at VGMA ’10 was due to his streaming numbers and social media?
This should be a disrespect to HipLife, of which Reggie Rockstone, Obrafour, Okomfour Kwadee, Obour, Tic Tac, Tinny, Lord Kenya, Okyeame Kwame, Buk Bak, Nkasie, VIP, T-Blaze, Sidney etc some of whom he idolizes, and took great inspiration from, whose music, (Rap Music) dominated the Ghanaian Radio & TV airwaves from the start of the new millennium, which made Hip-Life the most dominant genre before he burst onto the scene.
Let’s give credit where it’s due, I’m sure most people back then at Multimedia, especially Adom FM, on whose various platform he rose to prominence, would feel heart broken today after watching this interview.
