Respect ‘old’ Musicians — Appietus cries

Popular sound engineer Appietus is not happy with the disrespect shown to veteran musicians and how quickly they are replaced with new artistes.

Speaking in an interview withGraphic Showbiz, Appietus said it was about time we put a stop to quickly retiring musicians and raising up new stars.

“2Baba of Nigeria is still respected and the Nigerians see him as a legend any day, anytime. Here in Ghana, a new artiste pops up and suddenly it is as if the old ones have not done anything. Since Black Sherif came, everyone is on him as if we don’t have other artistes in Ghana,” he said.

Appietus said although it was good to support young acts, we should never try to replace them with the old ones.

“Some of these young artistes come in with a lot of fire and in the next two or three years, they are nowhere to be found. But we are talking about the likes of Daddy Lumba, Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Okyeame Kwame who are still relevant after more than a decade.

“We should respect such artistes and cherish them. Ghanaians like choosing new things and dropping the old ones. It puts some bitterness in these old musicians and I would feel same if I were in their shoes.

The same attitude was given to our genres of music that is why Azonto, Crank and other genres could not last. How do we expect these old musicians to come out and teach the young ones what they know if we claim the new ones are better than them. The bitterness in them will not even let them help.

“I know some of these old musicians who had very beautiful songs but we decide not to listen anymore to them because we think the new ones have arrived and we no longer need them,” he added.

The award winning sound engineer has worked with some big name artistes such as Sarkodie, Okyeame Kwame, Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi, Rex Omar, 4X4, Ofori Amponsah, Wutah, Praye just to mention a few.

(Source: graphic.com.gh)