[dropcap]If[/dropcap] one really pays attention to the words in poems and how those words are woven, one would agree with me – why I implore some Ghanaian musicians to start considering poets for their lyrical compositions.
Often, we hear some musicians recount their lyrical compositions as being impromptu works: “I entered the studio one day and the engineer told me he’s cooked some beat for me so after listening to it for some minutes, I wrote some lyrics and action! I sung over the beat and now here we are!” – – – – Really? Why won’t we be deluged with loose and lyrically immature songs?
No poet born of a man just wakes up, pick a pen and paper and compose a poem ready for recitation – it’s rare, ask many poets for confirmation. Poets go deep within their soul to fetch their themes and lines, perfect them, and later perform to their audience.
Poems, known in Akan language as “Anwensԑm” literally translate as ‘woven words,’ are one branch of lyrical composition which has not caught the attention of most musicians. There’s a thin line between poems and songs or poets and musicians.
Musicians are described as short storytellers – so are poets. Both musicians and poets are messenger or preachers. Musicians compose songs on hooks, themes, sounds/beats and visual images – so do poets. In as much as musicians and poets tell stories or preach through lyrical compositions, message-wise or lyrically, poets are arguably better than musicians.
This is because poems contain deeper themes or messages. Poems are for matured audience or minds – hence their deep messages or themes. The interesting thing about poems unknown to many is that, they can be used to compose any genre of music: Highlife, hiplife, hip hop, raga, reggae, dancehall, etc.
So far, musicians that I see poetic orientations in their music compositions are King of Highlife Nana Ampadu, good old Obrafour, Okyeame Kwame, Manifest, and his Bradez. These rappers (with the exception of Nana Ampadu) raps poetically.
If you really understand poetry and wants to feel how it is used in songs, cock your ears well each time you hear songs composed by the aforementioned musicians played. You will then agree why most of our musicians, especially the young rappers, need to consider poets or poems for their song compositions.
My entreaty is simple – poets now abound in numbers and are accessible. We have young but very deep poets such as: Kwaku Sonny aka Rhyme Sonny, Nana Asase, Chief Moomen, So, I entreat our promising and one time hit musicians, D-CRYME, ZIGGY, ATUMPAN, EDUWOJI, NANA BORO, and others.
It will further enhance the depth of their lyrics. Why them? Well, they came in mind when I was putting my thoughts together – no hard feelings. Until then….MOTWUM!!