PUERTO Rican musician H Merced has encouraged Ghanaian artistes to look beyond the African music space and work more with Latin artistes to widen their international appeal.
He believes Ghanaian music already has what it takes to go global, and that collaborations with Latin artistes could bring in new audiences and build links between the two cultures.
He named Amaarae, KiDi and Shatta Wale as artistes he would like to see work with Latin acts.
“Latin music today leads the industry and I have no doubt about it. It would be good to see artistes such as Amaarae, KiDi and Shatta Wale collaborating with Latin artistes. I think they are doing everything they need to do and at any time it can become global,” he told Graphic Showbiz on Monday, October 5.
He pointed to the collaboration between Colombian superstar Shakira and Nigerian musician Burna Boy as the kind of cross-cultural link he would like to see more of.
In his view, such partnerships allow artistes from different backgrounds to exchange influences and make music that travels beyond borders.
His call comes as his own relationship with Ghana grows. His latest single, Siga, features Ghanaian artiste Masaany. This is his second collaboration with a Ghanaian musician.
In 2021, he teamed up with Prince Bright, formerly of Buk Bak, on the song, Kumbaya.
He said his collabo with Masaany grew out of the friendship he developed with Prince Bright and his desire to discover more Ghanaian music.
“I think that developing a friendship and having known him beyond music and seeing the human being behind the artiste is more important.
“The feature with Masaany came from the respect and admiration I developed for Bright, which made me want to discover more of music from Ghana”, he added.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, H Merced said his connection to Ghana also goes beyond music. (Read also Hiplife and Azonto: Is Ghana’s Future in the Past?)
He said his African heritage and family ties to Ghana have given him a sense of closeness to the country.
“I feel a genuine connection and closeness,” he said.
He said Ghana and Puerto Rico also share similarities in how they express urban music, which makes collaborations between artistes from both countries particularly exciting.
His own music blends reggaeton, Latin urban music and hip-hop with influences from dancehall, reggae and traditional Caribbean sounds.
“I can record an Afrobeats song, tomorrow a salsa and next month an R&B fused with bachata,” he said.
H Merced said he was keen to continue working with Ghanaian artistes.
“I am very interested in continuing to collaborate with artistes from Ghana and be able to mix my influences with theirs and create something genuine that can cross continents and be able to show the world what happens when human beings join art,” he stated
