Highlife musician, Kwabena Kwabena, has said he would be circumspect if he should decide to mentor up-and-coming artistes.
The contemporary highlife musician said budding artistes have always refused to regard legends and experienced musicians in the industry.
He told Kojo Preko Dankwa on Kasapa Entertainment on Kasapa 102.5FM, the current crop of artistes have refused to tap into the skills of the already known musicians because of false information given to them by their managers.
Kwabena Kwabena said, most of the managers of these new generation artistes are of the opinion that the style of some Ghanaian music icons is outmoded since artistes are now adapting to new changes.
But the ‘Bue Kwan’ hitmaker reacted that getting lessons from an established brand can help a promising artist to stay relevant for long in the music industry.
“I go to Agya Koo Nimo up until today for some music lessons and someone like Pat Thomas is one of the highlife legends I admire so much but for me Kwabena Kwabena I don’t want to use any new artiste as an example.”
He eulogized highlife greats Agya Koo Nimo, Pat Thomas and the late Papa Yankson for nurturing and helping him build a better brand over the years.
“I’ll think twice about it because the legends I mentioned their names up until when I became a known artiste, I still have a lot of respect for them and still remain humble to them. Let’s ask ourselves if artistes who came to meet these legends ten years ago give them that same respect. I wouldn’t blame the new artiste but I’ll only blame the people who called themselves managers who feed these young acts with certain information.
“Papa Yankson of blessed memory thought me microphone techniques so I’m not surprised recently a well known band was chastised severely for their poor performances at a popular event. It is good to learn from the experienced artistes if you’re a young artiste and wanting to learn.” He Kojo Preko Dankwa.