Artiste manager, Bulldog, has taken a swipe at Gyedu Blay Ambolley following the highlife icon’s description of songs churned out by the current crop of musicians as “sharp sharp”, saying he is a culprit and as such, has no moral right to rubbish efforts by this generation.
Ambolley who has been a staunch critic of contemporary Ghanaian music rekindled his mission to bring ‘sanity’ to the music industry when he told Showbiz that such songs are destroying the industry.
“The introduction and popularity of computers for sound programming has contributed to these ‘sharp sharp’ songs. They just put words together and with the assistance of these computers, produce sounds and release them.
“We need to go back to the old times and learn how we used to produce great beats that got both the old and young to appreciate it. There are Highlife songs which are over three decades old but are still evergreen. Can we say same for these new songs? That is what I’m advocating for,” he said.
Throwing more light on the issue on Daybreak Hitz, Wednesday, Ambolley said he is concerned because songs that are recorded without recourse to creativity become popular but are unable to stand the test of time. He emphasized that the likes of Bob Marley are still enjoying airplay because of the quality of their songs.
But reacting to his submission, Bulldog, known in real life as Lawrence Nana Asiama Hanson said Ambolley’s assessment is despicable.
“He is a composer of ‘sharp sharp’ music and he turns around to criticize ‘sharp sharp’ music? I don’t know what ‘sharp sharp’ music is but people do music for the moment. Can he compare any of his songs to Bob Marley’s songs? Bob Marley died long ago but they still play Bob Marley’s songs more than he [Ambolley] who is alive,” he jabbed.
“His [Ambolley] Simi Rap is a quickie song. You can’t listen to somebody’s song and say this is rubbish. You may not like something about it but someone else likes it. If he wants to say the kids of today are not writing good songs, then he missed the point. The same Stonebwoy he was trying to push down the last time, Stonebwoy has ‘Run Go’. I don’t know any of his [Ambolley] songs that will be compared to ‘Run Go’. ‘Agya Nyame’ is a beautiful song but when you look at its status with ‘Run Go’, you should know ‘Run Go’ is deeper, it’s global,” he noted.
Last year, www.abrantepa.com reported Ambolley as saying no Ghanaian Reggae/Dancehall Artiste, including Stonebwoy, will be able to win the Grammys as there is no originality in their songs.
For some industry folks, Ambolley’s constant refusal to appreciate efforts of the current crop of musicians is unfathomable.
