Veteran musician and instrumentalist Gyedu-Blay Ambolley has raised concerns about the current rate at which artistes overly rely on technology to make songs.
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley explained his reasons in an interview on the Prime Time Show (Joy Prime), noting that the current crop of musicians has opted for a shorter route to song creation. Expounding further, he stated that the convenience of digital music production is resulting in artistes prioritising speed over lyrical depth and a well-structured creative process.
“Shortcuts in music are not good, it makes your music ‘sharp sharp’ but it doesn’t last,” he said. He stated that “sharp-sharp” method of music referring to the wave of fast-food style of music creation lacks meaningful lyrics, timeless power and soul.
READ ALSO:
Ambolley noted that many musicians today skip the learning process of music, specifically music theory, stage craftsmanship, live performances, discipline, and learning to play instruments – a necessary requirement for musicians in the early days. According to him,” today’s digital-driven industry, a beat can be downloaded, lyrics quickly patched together, and a song uploaded within hours, often without much human interaction or creative collaboration,” which doesn’t feel organic.
When asked about collaborations between himself and younger artistes, the legendary musician bemoaned that after recording his verse and sending it over, the song is released without him being consulted or reviewing the final product.
“When they send the music, I do my part, but after that, they don’t come back for me to listen to the entire song. Before I know it, it’s on air,” he shared.
Despite his criticism about technology and artistes, he lauded Kofi Kinaata for staying true to his penmanship and knack for storytelling in his music.