Eze: Let’s help the young talents

Nigerian artiste based in Ghana, Eze, whose popular song, 'Anago', shot him to fame in the early 2000s has expressed his disappointment at the inability of the Musician Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) to put measures in place that would groom young talents.

The artiste, who is currently on a tour to promote his new album, We Are The Best, said that he has been disappointed to see many talents 'killed' at an early stage because 'the whole system' doesn’t permit their growth.

In an interview with Showbiz last week Thursday, Eze didn’t mince words when he chastised MUSIGA for not doing much to help many upcoming artistes in the country.

He said MUSIGA must establish what he termed as a “future orientation” to serve as a training ground and platform for many young artistes to learn the rudiments of music before hitting the limelight.

“Being a musician is just like being a physician. You just don’t need the passion; you also need the training. But now, because of advanced technology, anyone can just go to the studio and come out later to be called a musician.

“But I don’t think that should be the case. We need to train these young talents to be refined to meet the trending demands of the market. But it looks like Ghana is lacking behind in that aspect and the earlier we tackle it, the better for the new generation of artistes who will come after us,” he said.

Giving platforms to already established artistes at major events to perform seems to be the “laid down” practice but Eze disagrees on that score. He thinks the practice shouldn’t be encouraged if new talents have to be discovered.

He noted that it was about time MUSIGA started liaising with event organisers and promoters to feature upcoming artistes to perform on big stages like Ghana Meets Naija, Ghana Music Awards and many others of such reputable events for exposure.

“It shouldn’t always be about the big names like Sarkodie and Shatta Wale. We need to put some shine on those in the dark as well,” he stated.

Eze, who sees himself as a Ghanaian artiste, said he was more than qualified to talk about issues confronting Ghana music because he was “around during the birth of Hiplife."

He challenged MUSIGA to take up the interest of building event centres in the country remarking, “I am surprised that Ghana can boast of only the National Theatre and Conference Centre as event venues. But should that be the case?” he queried.

Eze is currently promoting his song, off his fifth album which he said would be launched in few weeks. The song features dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale.