Root reggae artiste, Julius Amua-Sekyi, known by his stage name Shasha Marley, has discarded the idea that reggae music solely originated in Jamaica.
According to him, reggae has its roots in the African slave trade and Jamaica, and it is music for blacks.
Speaking in an interview with Max Morning in Accra on Friday, the famed reggae artiste said many highlife musicians were singing reggae music before the invasion of the reggae genre.
He said that due to ignorance, the country categorized those genres of music as highlife.
Shasha Marley cited Amakye Dede’s “Dabi Dabi” and Nana Tuffour’s “Diana” as reggae songs that Ghanaians had considered as Highlife.
“Per the beats, those are reggae songs, but because they sang in twi and they were also highlife musicians, Ghanaians classified the songs as highlife. We must know that the genre of music is not determined by its lyrics; it is determined by the beat. Many gospel songs we hear are reggae ville.”
“My song, ‘So Nyame Mu,’ imagine if Christiana Love ‘Obaapa Christy’ or Ohemaa Mercy had sung the song; they would have said it was gospel, but because I sang it, they say it is reggae,” he said.
The “Maata Family” hitmaker indicated that Highlife music evolved based on political reasons, citing coups and curfews that occurred in 1979, leading many nightclubs to be shut down.
Prior to that, he said Highlife music was labeled as West African music, so Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela were all in Ghana to learn Highlife from the country.
“Due to the imposed curfew, many of our bands traveled outside Ghana, so when the curfew was lifted, the bands returned, and that was when the introduction of rap music and other genres started to manifest in the country, and then Borga Highlife took over,” Shasha Marley explained.
He maintained that he was not the first Ghanaian to have sung reggae songs in the country.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Joyceline Natally Cudjoe
