Ghanaian highlife musician and songwriter, Kwabena Kwabena, believes that poets have a place in the music industry. 

For many who consider poetry is a sibling to music, this might be a confirmation to the theory. Kwabena said on Showbiz A-Z on Joy FM that poets are adept at the use of language which is the soul of lyricism.

He told the host Kwame Dadzie that these lyrics could then be put to music by top liners or composers.

According to Kwabena, the industry could accommodate these poets and have collaborations with them.

“Musicians should start to appreciate people who have various talents. There are people who are good producers, there are people who are good composers, there are people who write good stories. I must admit, we need to start employing poets; people who can write or put together beautiful English pieces, then we can get composers to actually produce the melody," he said.

He added that if songwriting is not appreciated as a craft for which reason people in the music-making chain need to collaborate, the standard of songwriting in Ghana will go down. 

Chief a Moomen, a poet and playwright, noted that he had started writing scores for his plays; a proof that it is possible for poets to write lyrics for songs.

He said in his case, because he is not musically inclined, he would usually record the melody on on his phone when he gets them, send to his personal music producer to fine tune it, and later add the words or poetry to it.

Kwabena Kwabena also intimated that from his observation songs by Africans written in English usually lack depth. 

He said African musicians communicate better in their songs when they perform in their native languages. 

On the issue of songwriters getting paid for their work, he said he had never taken money for songs he wrote for other artistes. 

He even said that he felt uncomfortable to mention the names of people he composed songs for because the Ghanaian society has created the impression that doing so invalidates the music prowess of the performer of the song.

This conversation comes on the back of a recent story about Kaumi Eugene calling out Mr. Drew out for not paying him after he wrote about 80% of Drew's hit song 'Case.'

The case has re-ignited the issue of systems and structures in the Ghanaian music industry.

Watch the 7th October, 2023 edition of Showbiz A-Z below: