Ike Otoo Arhin, better known by his stage name Gomski, a music executive and manager from Ghana, has made a daring claim regarding the popularity of dancehall music in his country.
Despite his admiration for dancehall, Gomski expressed his belief that it is one of Ghana’s most significant problems in an interview with 3Music TV’s Culture Daily.
Gomski presented a strong argument for his claim by addressing the issue of identity and highlighting the universal recognition of Nigerians by their pidjin.
Furthermore, he highlighted the global suppression of dancehall by major record labels due to its profanity. The upbeat, positive energy of Afrobeats, he continued, has helped increase the genre’s appeal.
“I used to listen to Stonebwoy a lot when he was doing Dancehall, but I’ve come to realize that the major labels are suppressing Dancehall, which also suppresses his sound. The sound of Stonebwoy makes it difficult to determine whether he is Jamaican or Ghanaian.” he said.
Then he clarified that our dancehall tunes aren’t popular outside of Ghana; specifically, he mentioned that the Nigerian market doesn’t enjoy them.