Celebrity News

Young Acts Don’t Meet My Standard For Collaboration – Gyedu Blay Ambolley

Published

3 months ago

September 14, 2023

Veteran Ghanaian Highlife musician Gyedu Blay Ambolley has stated that even if he is offered a huge amount of money, he will not collaborate with any musician, especially the young acts if they don’t meet his standards.

This he said is because he has built a formidable reputation and until such musicians respect and uphold the standard of protecting Ghana’s rich music legacy, he will continue to turn down their requests for music collaborations.

“I am not looking at the money. I am not going to say because they have money, I am going to charge them and do it. It has to be what I believe in and the substance of the music must have a positive impact on listeners” he said.

“In our time, we learnt what music really was and the rudiments of music composition, arrangement and all other elements that make good music. That is not available to the young ones lately. All they do is to depend on the computer and after that give themselves all kinds of titles,” he added.

In a recent conversation with Graphic Showbiz, Ambolley, whose music career spans over forty years, said most of the new crop of artistes are focused on following trends and instant satisfaction over creative integrity and cultural preservation.

Furthermore, the “Simigwado” hitmaker indicated it would do the young acts a lot of good if they placed more importance on honing their craft and skills rather than finding shortcuts to attaining stardom.

“Many of them want to do music with me but they are not at par with what I expect. And if you are not up to that, I am sorry, I won’t team up with you” he asserted.

“I have been approached several times by some of the young ones, they want me to endorse their stuff, but I decline because whatever work I put my mark on has to be real music. Most of them are doing what I call ‘sharp sharp’ music which has a very short shelf life” he further disclosed.

Ambolley, however, acknowledged that there were equally talented young musicians making waves in the industry adding that he wouldn’t hesitate to nurture them and afterwards open his doors to them for collaborations and endorsements.

“There are a few exceptional ones who have the potential to make a significant impact on our music scene and we know them, and these are the ones I will not hesitate to work with,” he confessed.