Are we leaving the ladies behind?
A few months back, a friend and industry person requested that I undertake an assignment to find out how many female musicians have been nominated and won awards in the Ghana Music Awards since its inception in 2000.
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I thought and you will agree with me that this was needless and a time waster and moreover I didn’t see the significance of such an assignment. I however ignored it because the friend was not able to convince me why he needed to know.
But a few months later, after thoroughly thinking through it, I realised not many female musicians have been recognised and rewarded at our prestigious awards show.
What could be the reasons? Is it because there aren’t as many female musicians as the males? The sad reality is that, though there may be many more female musicians, not many have achieved mainstream success compared to their male counterparts.
Ghana’s population currently stands at 27 million with about 60 percent being women. What it means is that, women form the majority in the country. Their impact in society has been significant.
Going by the popular saying “what a man can do, a woman can do and even better”, women in Ghana are doing massively well in all disciplines which include the arts and creative industry—music to be precise. No single day passes without hearing of a new female musician breaking through and establishing themselves strongly in the industry, sadly however, not many get to the highpoint of their careers.
With or without payola, male musicians stand a better chance of having their songs promoted on both radio and television than female musicians. As disturbing as that may sound, that is a true reflection of what is happening. As you read this, take some time to monitor both radio television and tell me that what I’m saying is not the reality.
Ghana is currently blessed with many music reality shows and anytime auditions are called, many females show up but unfortunately a good number of them are not able to make the final cut. Does that mean, they are less talented than the male participants? The answer is no!
The questions and the examples could go on and on. One is tempted to believe that, the male musician stands a better chance at having a hit than a female musician but it is wrong because if more females are given equ opportunities, they would stand a greater chance of getting more hits.
Wiyaala
Wiyaala who has been touted as the latest revelation to emerge from Ghana recently spoke to the BBC about the lack of support for female musicians in Ghana.
“In Ghana for example, the industry doesn’t really support females. A guy would drop a song, some of which don’t make sense but the next day, it’s all over the place. But when a female drops a song, with good vocals and nice message, nobody cares about it.”
She continued, “When I ask why female musicians are treated that way, the answer they gave me was that, women are difficult and hard to manage. But with the guys, they are easy to manage. And I’m like, aren’t the women who gave birth to you the men? So why neglect them?” Her interview on the BBC was for the WOMAD International Arts Festival 2016 in the UK.
MzVee
Again, according Lynx Entertainment signee, MzVee who was recently nominated for the BET Awards for the Best African Act but missed out on the award said a lot more support from her country could have guaranteed her victory.
“I definitely had support from my true fans but there were people that didn’t agree with the situation but at the end of the day, you cannot get everyone to be in the same boat with you. It’s like that in every aspect of life.”
“That said I would have wished people supported me more because when I came to LA, other countries were supporting their people and I hope in future Ghana will do more. But I think I got the support I needed from my true fans the tip toers. I’m happy with the turn out.”
Afrogurl Donia
Another upcoming female musician, Afrogurl Donia also had something to say about the topic. She earlier in the year revealed to Gentlemen Radio, an online community station based in California, United States, about what some female artistes go through.
“Female musicians in Ghana go through a lot; some of us face sexual harassment from DJs, presenters, and promoter. Some of the industry men want sexual relations with you before they help you.”
Aside these three musicians who have openly spoken about the lack of support from Ghana and Ghanaians for the female musicians, there are a lot more people out there who share same or similar sentiments.
Indeed, most female musicians go through a lot before getting to the top of the musical ladder. Of course, a lot of favours are requested from them before they are helped. From what we have read above, it goes beyond asking for sexual favours.
Sexual favours or not, it’s difficult to help the female musicians to the pinnacle of their careers and I’m asking why! I may not find enough reasons to convince myself why a female musician should be helped more than the male musician. But it looks like we are leaving them behind which is also not good at all.
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