Ghana Hooked On Dancehall, Says AK Songstress

Dancehall artiste AK Songstress has disclosed that dancehall music is making a lot of impacts on the Ghanaian music scene.

According to the recording and performing artiste who recently collaborated with legendary Jamaican reggae artiste Sizzla Kalonji for a song titled 'Ghetto Cry', Ghana is currently leading the pack in Africa for dancehall.

“Dancehall is doing well in Ghana, and I believe, right now, Ghana is the leader in Africa when it comes to dancehall. I have been listening to reggae and dancehall since I was a child, and it has only grown from strength to strength,” she said.

Speaking in an interview with Jamaican newspaper, The Star, AK Songstress also revealed that dancehall music is so powerful in Ghana that a new sub-genre has developed called the Afro-dancehall. This is quite similar to the genre’s influence on reggaeton in the Latin market.

“Doing hardcore Jamaican dancehall doesn’t really work for the African market. Hence, we have adopted what we term Afro-dancehall, which is commercially viable and easily accepted in Africa. I do both Jamaica style dancehall and the Afro kind, and I hope to break the Jamaican style of dancehall into the African market as an African lady,” she told The Star.

AK Songstress, who is currently working with Ghana-based record label Paradise Entertainment, hopes her song, 'Ghetto Cry', will bring her closer to the Jamaican fan base.

“My music impacts lives, and it’s also very entertaining. I am here for the long haul. We have a plan in place which we are pursuing and it is confidential, trust me. It’s work in progress, and we are on course,” she said.

AK Songstress a few weeks ago won the best female dancehall artiste of the year award at the Ghana Naija Showbiz Award 2017 held in Lagos in Nigeria.

She beat dancehall artistes such as Cynthia Morgan, MzVee and Kaakie to win the highly contested award.