"LET'S NOT LOSE OUR MUSIC IDENTITY"

Many young Ghanaian artistes have adopted the Western style of music, but Reggae artiste, Shasha Marley believes that a trend has the tendency to make extinct the cultural identity of Ghanaian music if allowed to persist.

The 'Maata' Family singer said that even though he appreciates the new crop of young talents in the industry, he feared Ghana might lose touch of its identity on the world music stage if we adopt more of the Western style of music.

“It amazes me the new breed of talents in the industry. Our young ones are great and I’m very confident they can rub shoulders with artistes from around the world but my only fear is that, we are gradually losing touch of our culture through our kind of music we produce lately," he indicated.

“What happened to highlife music that identified our cultural roots? We cannot lose touch of such basics in music circles. Yes, we can adopt other styles but that shouldn’t overshadow who we are,” Shasha Marley told Showbiz in an interview on Tuesday.

He has not been active on the music scene for some time, but Shasha Marley said that is not enough proof that he is no more relevant. According to him, a good artiste is not just one who releases songs regularly but there are so many things “behind the scenes” that he has been engaged in.

“I have been performing all over the world. I was part of the artistes who performed at Holland for the Black Stars before they went to Brazil. I don’t think that I have to release a song before I can say that I’m relevant. I’m working on something and at God’s own time, it will be ready for release,” he stated.

As a staunch follower of TB Joshua, Founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Shasha Marley said that he had been greatly hit by the disaster that had befallen the church after a hostel belonging to the church collapsed and killed 117 people last week.

He compared the accident to the trials of Job in the Bible remarking that, “When God permitted satan to tempt Job, his children also had to bear the pain of what their father was going through. I always pray for strength for the Prophet, and I know that he will sail through this too”.

In 2007, Shasha released his most successful album, Lost And Found, which made him the toast of performances throughout the country and beyond at a time.

He won the Best Male Vocal Performance and Best Reggae Song of the Year with his song, 'Maata' Family, at the Ghana Music Awards in 2008.