Radio never speaks the truth when it comes to true artistry – Edem

As I combed through my Instagram feeds early Tuesday morning, one post caught my attention and that was a post from 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Album of the Year winner, Edem.

His ‘beef’?; that radio never speaks the truth when it comes to true artistry. His comments come after putting up a sterling performance at a peace concert in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Perhaps not the first person to have said this. Yes, South African rapper Cassper Nyovest has vented his anger and cried out on several occasions as to why his songs never get playlisted on radio in his home country despite doing the unthinkable by selling out 40,000 seater arenas and concerts.

According to a Google search, artistry means “creative skill or ability”.

Well, in this case, the ability to compose something and get it played on radio means you are creative but what level of creativity is being celebrated on radio lately and is it enough to determine true artistry as Edem puts it?

Now, the question is have you ever wondered why some of the most creative artists never get heavy rotation on radio and are even not celebrated? Well, simply because most radio stations prefer to play what is in-vogue and not to educate.