Pay-to-play popularly termed as ‘Payola’ is an illegal practice where record labels pay broadcasters for guaranteed airplay or promoting a particular artiste at a higher rate than others.
The act had confronted the showbiz industry for many years with some musicians lamenting on how it has crippled young talented artistes who have no funds to promote their music.
Against this back drop, the multi talented rapper, Kwesi Arthur has advised musicians to produce good content that could merit airplay.
According to him, the use of cash to encourage promotion of songs on streamline media like television and radio would be a thing of the past if artistes put much effort in the composition of their music.
In an exclusive interview with Times Weekend in Accra on Tuesday, the “Woara” hit maker indicated that young artistes should not only view music as just composing, saying they should be able to provide rich lyrical contents to motivate disc jockeys (DJs) to chase them for the song.
He said no amount of radio promotions were going to turn an average song into a hit, adding, “that artistes who do not understand the music business cut cheques and splash cash around thinking their songs are going to blow to the top.”
The 25-year-old lyrical composer observed, that his fame was not attributed to the amount of money spent in the promotion of his music but was attributed to the rich contents he produced for the industry.
“The music I am making is timeless, 20 years from now you will still hear my music and love them as if they are new,” he said.
For songs of artistes to stream faster on air, he called on them to establish a strong public relations team which would promote their songs and build rapport with DJs.
Early Life
Born Emmanuel Kwesi Danso Arthur, Kwesi Arthur is considered to be one of the best rappers in the country who pursued a career in music after listening to Drake’s debut album titled “Thank me later.”
He noted that the American singer made singing so easy and emulated his steps to make the industry more vibrant and joyous for the youth.
Kwesi Arthur who hails from Tema had his basic education atGood Shepherd Preparatory School and later attended Naylor Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) School.
He furthered at Tema Secondary School (TEMASCO) where he had the dream of becoming a lawyer.
His dream of defending the innocent at court failed when he tried severally to get funds to enrol at the University of Ghana and Ghana Institute of journalism.
The awards winning musician is noted for his hit songs like “One stone, nobody, no title, Popi and Grind day.
Kwesi was nominated for the Best International Act at the 2018 BET Awards and won the hip pop song of the year in the just ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
Project
Based on his life experience, Kwesi Arthur is poised to change the lives of the youth within his community and the country.
Currently he is working with the Youth Employment Agency and Queen’s Commonwealth initiative to assist people with creative knowledge to develop their talent.
Extended Play (EP) Released
The Founder of Ground up Chale, a fun club, released his maiden mini album in 2017 christened “Live from Nkrumah Krom” (LFNK).
Due to high demand from fans, the award winning rapper in April this year dropped his second mini album under the same title.
The nine-track EP contained hip-hop and afro beat songs which featured top international and local stars like Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Sarkodie, Kidi, Mr Eazi and Nasty C.
Word to Fans
Kwesi Arthurcharged young artistes to believe in themselves and produce songs that could stand the test of time.
The sensational rapper called on his fans to patronise his art from all the major streamline media and promised to release an album soon.
“I am working hard to release a full album but for now all my fans should support me in the promotion of my current EP, great things are cooking, they should watch out,” he added.
BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE
