And that what he is advocating is entirely different from the Lifetime Achievement Award from TGMA to honour veteran musicians.

For Sparqlyn, formerly known as Kele, many Ghanaian musicians have produced timeless classics that continue to enjoy massive airplay and popularity years after their release.

He argued that those artistes deserved to be recognised and celebrated for their contributions to the music industry, particularly those who championed Ghana’s music from the early 2000s.

“I think it's about time we started recognising and rewarding our musicians for their old hit songs. These songs have become an integral part of our music heritage, and it's only fair that we celebrate the people behind them,” he stated.

Sparqlyn emphasised that introducing that category would ensure that the legacies of veteran musicians were not forgotten with time, a fate that has befallen many of their counterparts who continue to fight for recognition.

“How many times haven’t we heard older artistes lament about being forcefully ‘retired’ because people think they are old and should make space for younger ones.”

“This perception has really made it difficult for older artistes to thrive when they come back because their popularity wanes with time.”

“However, with such an award in place, the younger generation will get to know the faces behind their hit songs back in the day and it will even be easier to relate to us when we drop new songs,” he noted.

On Tuesday, January 21, Charterhouse officially opened nominations for the 26th edition of the awards ceremony.

They called on individuals and institutions deserving of recognition in Ghana’s music industry to submit entries for consideration.

The call extends to all stakeholders, including artistes, managers, record labels, producers, instrumentalists and composers.

Interestingly, a new category of Best Urban/Contemporary Song of the Year has been introduced after many years of calls from gospel artistes in the sector.

 Sparqlyn, real name Ahmmed Kanneh Larweh, believes with good advocacy and support from his colleagues, his view of creating a special award for older artistes with hits will be considered in subsequent editions.

“There’s a saying that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. I believe that we are still building a strong awards scheme to build our industry so this should also be considered going forward,” he added.