Josh Laryea Schools Ghana Music Awards Board – ‘A Songwriter/Composer is a 100% Musician’ | So Akwaboah’s Nomination is Out of Order

One of the board members of Ghana Music Awards, Okraku Mantey, revealed that a song writer/composer is not a musician.

Musician Akwaboah is one of the three musicians in this year’s ‘New Artiste of the Year’ category, whose nomination has come under public censorship – calling for his nomination to be quashed because he is not a new artiste/musician.

Those who make the argument posit that Akwaboah once won ‘Best Songwriter of the Year’ in VGMA for the song “……she wrote for musician Becca; because of that, he does not qualify for the ‘New Artiste of the Year’ nomination in this year’s VGMA.

However, Okraku Mantey insists that Akwaboah qualifies because, at the time the latter won the award for ‘Best Songwriter of the Year,’ he was not a musician; instead, he was only a songwriter/composer.

To verify if there is any truth or sense in what he said, GhanaCelebrities.Com did a research.

Who is a musician (noun)? Our research gave us one of two meanings or definitions:

1 “Someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession).”

2 “(music) artist who composes or conducts music as a profession.”

GhanaCelebrities.Com Also visited celebrated gospel musician and a certified Musicologist, Tseataa – formerly known as Pastor Josh Laryea and asked him: sir, if someone can write or compose song (s) and can play musical instruments but has not yet released a song/album, is the person not a musician or cant the fellow qualify to be called a musician.

“Why not! All song composers/writers are 100% musicians! Any person who does something that is music related aside the executive production or promotion, qualifies to be called a musician! Look, music, just like any other discipline, has got departments.

Just like we have doctors – some are gynecologists, dentists, dermatologists, etc. They are all doctors but in different specializations or departments. If a dentist tells a gynecologist that you are not a doctor, he does not make sense! So, music has departments! Instrumentalists are musicians! Songwriters/composers are musicians as well!

So finally, songwriters/composers are musicians! That is why we have what we call recording artistes or musicians; thus, a composer/writer who does not perform his or her own composed songs on stage, but is still a musician!” Tseataa educated us and the VGMA board.

GhanaCelebrities.Com’s Logics on the topic

So if someone writes/composes a song for another person to sing or perform, the Ghana Music Award board is telling us that the latter is rather a musician but the former is not? The song/lyrics and its performance, which comes first? Is it not the song/lyrics? So how come a songwriter/composer cannot be said to be a musician?

Secondly, if one does not know anything about music, can the fellow write/compose a song for the song to go ahead and win an award? The answer is no! Akwaboah was a music artist who composed a song for Becca; therefore, he qualified as a musician then and now.

Finally, when Akwaboah wrote the song, did it get nomination for a literacy award? No! It was nominated for Ghana Music Awards. Which people does Ghana Music Awards ‘award’ or honour? Vulcanizers? No! Answer – Musicians!

So if Akwaboah was not considered a musician, then why did the board nominate him then; knowing he was not a musician and yet, the award is for musicians?

Well, we are through with our analysis. To you, what do you also think – are song writers/composers not musicians? Do you agree with the Ghana Music Award board? Let the discussion start as we continue to review this year’s VGMA nomination list. Until then….MOTWUM!!