Gasmilla is asking a question that has lingered around one of the country’s most influential musical movements: why is Azonto still not officially recognized as a genre of music in the country that gave birth to it?
The musician believes Azonto has already done more than enough to earn its place among Ghana’s recognised music genres, having moved from a local dance and musical craze into a sound that caught the attention of the international music industry.
Gasmilla recalled how international music platform MTV once listed Azonto alongside highlife and hiplife when identifying Ghanaian genres for music video submissions.
To him, that moment was significant because it showed that while Ghana may still debate Azonto’s status, the rest of the world had already begun treating it as something distinct.
“The global world sees Azonto as a genre of music because it’s gone through the phases, gone through the movements, gone through all the things that it’s supposed to go through to become a genre of music,” he explained.
But Gasmilla believes Ghana’s failure to formally define and recognise Azonto has come at a cost.
He argues that the absence of an established genre identity has made it easier for other sounds to borrow heavily from Azonto without the connection to Ghana being sufficiently acknowledged.
“Because Azonto has not been made a genre of music, what is happening now is a lot of people are just biting off it. If you look at the Brazilian funk, it’s basically Azonto. There are so many genres that I could mention here that were Azonto-inspired,” he said.
His fight is not simply about putting a label on a musical style. He sees formal recognition as a way of preserving Ghana’s contribution while giving younger musicians a foundation from which to experiment and push the sound even further.
He drew a comparison with Amapiano, which has grown from a South African musical style into a globally recognised sound with a clear identity that continues to evolve.
“Look at Amapiano. They’re championing and flying the flags global. The best thing we can do is make it a genre of music. What are you guys waiting for? Just make it a genre of music. That way the younger ones coming can also add their two cents to make it bigger,” he added.
For Gasmilla, Azonto should not remain a nostalgic chapter in Ghana’s music history or simply be remembered for the dance that once took over the world.
