Legendary Ghanaian highlife musician Gyedu Blay Ambolley has revealed the level of disappointment he hoards in him following collaborations he did with some musicians in the country.
Gyedu Blay Ambolley says many of the artists he has worked with were only in a hurry to finish the songs and release them onto the market.
In that light, he says, many of the songs do not come out like he had envisaged.
Speaking to Paa Kofi Nyarko, host of GH Classics on 3FM, he bemoaned the lackadaisical attitude most musicians attach to their work, which he says led them to churning out half-baked songs, expressing his regrets over some collaborations he did.
“All those ones that I have collaborated with, Tic Tac, Sway and all the others, I regretted that later because they want to do ‘sharp sharp’ music and take it out there ‘sharp sharp’ and I don’t want to be part of that”.
He gave reasons saying that one must give people value for their money when they are selling a product to them and he feels those musicians he collaborated with did not think about the people.
“If you are doing something to sell to give to people [which would required that they] put their hands in their pocket and buy then you have to think of them and give them their monies worth”.
According to him, the musicians are always in a hurry to mix their songs right after recording and are reluctant to seek some advice from him.
He however added, “When I do my part then they are done with me and the next time I hear, it’s on air but my name is on it so I’ve said this time around I’m not doing that again unless I know that I’m part and parcel of the collaboration”.
Ambolley is a maestro of hybrid African music and has represented Ghana on the international stage since age 18. But over 50 years on, this veteran African music shows no sign of slowing down; instead, he is waxing stronger.