Speaking with Doreen Avio on Hitz Fm’s Daybreak Hitz, he said that Ghanaians who consider highlife musicians illiterates must stop because highlife is just like any other music genre.

“A lot of people hear me speaking English and they go like oh we thought he was an illiterate oo. Yes because in Ghana everything that comes with Vernacular makes people think you are a villager” he said.

“People’s knowledge is that when you speak English, you are from the elite. You know what I mean. And it’s never like that, we need to re-educate these people.” He added.

He further added that many current Ghanaian musicians are singing and making highlife music. However, they are not classifying it as highlife. He mentioned that musicians such as “R2bees, Kwame Eugene, and Camidoh” make highlife music.

“If we all decide to own it, we could birth a genre that could take over the world. I love what Stonebwoy did when he spoke to Rick Ross because he mentioned that Highlife music is the bedrock of our music.”

Emphasising that highlife music is the “biggest genre” in Ghana, he encouraged musicians to be proud to claim it.

“It is the biggest genre in Ghana. The thing is a lot of people make high-life music but they don’t claim it like I do. Like the majority of the people are not like claiming it, as in this is what I do.”

The “Our Story” hitmaker also added that awards schemes such as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards can place priority on Highlife music to get people interested in it.

“If the VGMA can help and throw more light on highlife music maybe this year, the biggest award on the night is the one who takes home Highlife Song of the Year. You are going to have a lot of people gunning to do highlife music in the coming years.”

MORE:

• I slept very well after listening to Bawumia’s lecture – Economist

• Hotel owner allegedly killed at Mallam

• Family of Aburi Girls SHS student breaks silence on her death

According to him, although Ghanaians are free to do whatever genre of music they like, Nigerians have claimed Afrobeats across the world and have set a national agenda to ensure that almost all their artistes make the same genre of music.

Thus, in many foreign countries people assume artistes who make Afrobeats music are all Nigerians, he said on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, on Friday, adding that the beloved genre has become synonymous with Nigeria.

“Today the Nigerians have taken over Afrobeats. If you do Afrobeats today you live in the shadows of Nigeria, that is a fact. Because now they are claiming it worldwide, so, when you do Afrobeats everybody might think you come from Nigeria.

“Unless the person knows you personally and where you come from, if you are performing on a foreign soil somewhere, the moment the one drop lands everybody knows where it is coming from,” he said.

MORE:

• Married man dies during s3x romp with wife’s sales girl

• Used condoms, sanitary towels blocking Law Court complex sewage lines

• Popular actor passes on [Photo]

The ‘Our Story’ crooner stated that Ghanaians are fond of borrowing culture and trying to make it theirs, adding that, that is what is happening in the music industry currently.

Dada Hafco told Andy Dosty, host of the show, that “we sort of love to do what others are doing, instead of focusing on what we can do and do it better.”

He explained that just like Nigerians and other countries including Jamaica, South Africa and the United States, Ghana needs to have a national agenda that helps create an identity for the music industry with Highlife music.

Dada Hafco said that Ghanaians cannot begin to explain the many genres artistes are doing every time they are asked what music identifies Ghana.

“When Hiplife started, remember at the time once you are young we were calling every musician a Hiplife artiste, and that is what Nigeria is doing today. We need an identity for Ghana music.

“At the end of the day we can have so many genres in Ghana people should do whatever they want to do, but when it comes to an identity we need to be identified with a particular genre.”

According to him, he believes there has been a deliberate attempt by some industry players to ignore submissions of Bisa Kdei’s works for the VGMAs over the past two years.

In 2018, 10, we submitted two songs on the Highlife Konnect album… and this year too I did the same and it wasn’t nominated as well, he told Andy Dosty on Daybreak Hitz.

MORE:

• Shatta Wale announces retirement from music after GOG album, explains why

• I arrived in Ghana with just 50 euros to kickstart my career – Wendy Shay [Video]

• Nike sues company that made ‘Satan Shoes’ with human blood in them

He also touched on how the board failed to nominate Bisa Kdei’s ‘Asew’ song that got featured on Netflix and his ‘Sika’ song that features singer Gyakie.

And you know how big the ‘Asew’ song was… If I do so and you don’t nominate then what are you telling me? No disrespect to anyone though, he added.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ghana Music AWARDS (@ghmusicawards)

Speaking on the 2021 VGMA Highlife Song of the Year category, Booza Kay, said the board goofed by nominating Dada Hafco’s Playboy that featured Akwaboah as part of the songs that battled out in the category.

I never heard of Dada Hafco’s song, the ‘Playboy’ song… his song can’t be compared to the ‘Sika’ song. Playboy shouldn’t have made it to the list… The ‘Sika’ song can compete with all of the songs that were nominated so why wasn’t Bisa nominated? He quizzed.

“My answer has always been: ‘My focus is the bigger picture as a generational thinker.’

“Ghanaians see highlife musicians as kolo/villagers. Even when you go for interviews, some would ask you if you’ll be comfortable speaking English or whether it must be done in Twi, which is not even a problem.

“But what’s the big deal? Why do we always look down on our own?

“In Ghana, the genre you find yourself in and your way of dressing sometimes determine the people who align with you. because, in the minds of the people, they want that swaggering-looking dude, which is fine!

“A country where the one who speaks better patois and can make music with it is tagged the best, but the one who thinks originality is considered a villager when Burna Boy recorded his song ‘Odogwu’ which happens to be some of his earlier works that built him up before this Grammy feat.

“Because he knew he wanted to make authentic highlife music, he came all the way to employ the services of a Ghanaian guitarist, simply because he knew if he would have to delve deep into the genre, he can’t do it without the help of a Ghanaian hand.

MORE:

• Apam drowning: Tears as teenagers are laid to rest [Photos+Video]

• Ahuofe Patri finally ‘agrees’ to marry Kalybos

• Check out interesting English names for ‘local’ Ghanaian fruits and ‘everyday items’ you

“But ask yourself, those of us who own it, how deep do we go to get the best out of it?

“Sadly, the average Ghanaian gladly embraces anything foreign and throws ours under the bus, despite that global consciousness of most countries standing for something.

“We here stand for everything and anything, but ours, not even our entertainers.

“We’re basking in Burna boy’s feat. Yes, we Ghanaians. Maybe so, because we identify with most of his songs being highlife songs (not even the Nigerian version of highlife, but the Ghanaian variant.)

“It’s gotten him a Grammy. Doesn’t that tell us something? Why then should we slack in accepting what’s us and ours? In the past decade, most big songs that have come from our land have always been highlife-infused songs.

“But the moment you mention this, you’re going to get a strong opposition because the people who make it don’t claim it or champion it enough, but that is what gives them their strong relevance too and not the others.

“But who can blame them? In their minds, accepting to be doing highlife will make people tag them as villagers.

“Remember how Shatta got trolled when his song was nominated for highlife song of the year? What sort of slavery mentality is this?

“At the end of the day, we must all know we are at liberty to do whatever we want to do but there must be a conscious effort to throw light on what we can claim as ours.

“The South Africans do everything, but their light is still on Kwaito; the Nigerians now own Afrobeat whether we like it or not.

“The Jamaicans, Reggae/Dancehall, the Americans HipHop/RnB. And we? We need to start getting up and championing a cause that no one can take away from us (the highlife agenda).

“Else a time will come, the world will believe highlife originated from Nigeria and not Ghana. We must stand for something!

“Indeed there are a lot of Ghanaians who will come at this post because of their affiliations or whatever it is.

“But remember, we must win as a unit doing the same thing to be recognised by the world, instead of the free-for-all, anything-goes genres without locus.”

“Will the Grammys ever award the best HipHop or Reggae award to anyone outside of America and Jamaica?” Veteran Deejay Ashmen quizzed. Let’s ponder over this. A word to the wise!

Speaking to the hosts of Prime Morning, Jay Foley and Emefa Adeti, he explained that after he touched down at the Kotoka International Airport, all passengers had their temperatures checked and were asked to wait at the premises.

After detaining them, they were later informed that they would be quarantined for 72 hours before being allowed to leave.

Dada Hafco explained that the experience was very daunting, mostly due to the little or no information they received from the authorities during the period, which caused a lot of panic.

MORE:

• Lil Win tricked my wife to run away with my twin daughters – Funny Face

• Bismark The Joke subtly replies Funny Face with a new photo

He explained that he, together with others, were sent to Accra City Hotel where they were quarantined for weeks, although the initial information was that it would only last for 72 hours.

He bemoaned the awful stigmatisation they received the first few weeks; the food they received was dished on the floor by their doors, no cleaning of rooms and the lack of information during testing and results.

He said he felt imprisoned and if there was any one person he could have kept with him during those hard times, it would be his pastor.

“I’m a spiritual person…this moment brought me closer to God and I knew I wasn’t positive…I knew I was well,” he said.

He mentioned that the worst part of his ordeal was the stigmatisation. Although he was not neglected by family and friends unlike others, he got teased about it.

He told JoyNews’ Doreen Avio, that the moved back to Ghana from the United Kingdom (UK) because of the growing coronavirus cases there which he said was affecting his life.

“All the streets are dead and the shops are empty, it was quite scary. I came back before the UK went on total lockdown,” he said.

According to him, a total lockdown for the UK would mean he cannot move back to his homeland until the threat of coronavirus has passed – something he added could have a negative effect on his career.

MORES STORIES:

• Actress Kafui Danku’s son looking all grown up [photo]

• Coronavirus: Man operates ATM with stick [Video]

Dada Hafco was part of the 1030 Ghanaians who were put under mandatory quarantine after they arrived on Saturday.

He explained that the passengers were informed before landing in the country about government’s intention to put them under quarantine for 14 days.

“We’re hoping that in the next coming days well get our tests done and results ready,” he added.

Stonebwoy, speaking at the 4Syte music awards which was held recently, said the three musicians including himself are national assets, who deserve to be protected for their works in the music industry.

But according to Dada Hafco, Stonebwoy has every right to say what he feels but it doesn’t necessarily mean his predictions are certain.

SEE THIS:

• Sarkodie, Shatta, Becca, others set to perform alongside Cardi B this December

• Victoria’s Secret cancels fashion show amid ratings drop

“I don’t agree with him. Stonebwoy is entitled to his opinions. I watch the Ampadu’s before the Amakye Dede’s then the Reggie’s emerged before Okyeame Kwame then Kwadee; all these stars were created in a span of 15 years,” he said.

Dad Hafco explained that unlike Ghana’s music structure where some few musicians stay on top of the ladder, the music system abroad gives chance for up-and-coming musicians to attain the limelight effortlessly.

The system doesn’t allow good music to happen. When Burna Boy won his Grammy nomination, ask yourself, what are we selling out there? What is Ghana selling abroad? We are living in people’s shadows. Whenever we do anything we kill it,” he said on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, monitored by Adomonline.com.