Why many Ghanaian rappers have switched to singing - EL explains

Some music lovers in Ghana have raised concerns over what they have observed as the ‘fading away’ of the rap genre in Ghana.

They pointed out that aside from one or two Ghanaian rappers producing mainstream rap, many opt for singing or a combination of singing and rapping.

Explaining the reasons behind such a phenomenon, Ghanaian rap sensation, Elom Adablah, aka EL, said the low attention span of many Ghanaian music consumers is a reason for the low patronage and production of pure rap music in Ghana.

In an interview with Hitz FM on April 24, 2024, EL claimed that many consumers would prefer fast-paced, catchy music over wordy lyrics in their music.

He stated that this trend, which is common in many West African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, has led to many rappers switching to singing in an attempt to capture a wider audience.

“The markets we are in now, the attention span is very, very, very small. In my opinion, nobody really has the time to listen to a lot of content, a lot of words, within the song. I believe that in this ecosystem in which we're in right now, people just want to have fun.

“A lot of people just want to listen to a catchy song, catchy lyrics, and a danceable tune. That is the ecosystem in which we are in Ghana, in Nigeria, and in West Africa in general,” he said.

The 2016 VGMA Artiste of the Year winner contrasted this with the case of South Africa, which has a vibrant rap culture.

“The rap thing doesn't really have a foothold here as much as it does in, for example, South Africa, because they have actually built the industry around the rap narrative and they have a market for it,” he said.

He, however, added that a rap culture exists in Ghana, but it was too small to make any major impact on the music market.

“We have a market for rap here, but I don't think the consumers of hip hop in Ghana, real rap in Ghana, would subscribe deeply to any type of rap coming from Ghana. It's just a few of us. And the ones that you see out there purportedly doing rap music are not really hooked into the rap community in Ghana.

“So there's a community in Ghana that appreciates hip hop music, real rap music. But I don't think you see them coming out to do too much because it's not a big deal in Ghana. It doesn't have a foothold here in Ghana,” EL added.

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