Rocky Dawuni has discussed his ongoing recognition on the global scale, despite the fact that most Ghanaians have not yet completely appreciated his work at home in the wake of his third Grammy nomination.
Originality, according to the “In Ghana” hitmaker, should be the guiding principle for all Ghanaian musicians, but tragically, “copy and paste” has become the norm for the majority of them.
In a recent interview, Rocky Dawuni observed, “You don’t have to do music the way someone else does it or replicate what someone else is doing.
He claimed that the reason for his nominations’ consistency was that he maintained his originality, which had given him a recognizable musical persona.
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“My style is not pure reggae music, it is called afro root. It is a style I mix with Highlife, Afrobeat, and different mixed together. So if you are doing music, you don’t have to do it as someone else or copy what somebody is doing. When you do that, you won’t make it”, he explained.
So what I’m saying is that you can’t copy somebody’s style and make it yours. Of course, you can’t do it better than the originator of the style so you have to create your own and that is what will make people know that you also have something unique to offer”, he added.
In addition, he mentioned Nana Kwame Ampadu and Apofo Agyei as having had a significant impact on his craft.
“Before Jamaican music came along, artists like Nana Ampadu and Ampofo Adjei inspired me when I first started. It is therefore a combination of all these styles when you listen to me attentively, he remarked.
