Paulina Oduro Laments Direspect For Musicians

Paulina Oduro, Ghana?s Highlife diva has lamented the level of respect given to musicians in this country.

She observed that musicians are not seen as important and given the respect they deserve in Ghanaian society because of a lack of understanding of what music stands for.

?Do people care to know what it takes to write a song or what goes into singing a song?? she asked. Certainly, Ghana would be a better place for the arts to thrive if musicians were to be accorded the respect they deserve.

The Ghanaian-born star in an exclusive interview with SHOWGHANA.COM added to many calls made by musicians and stakeholders of the industry for Ghana to start taking the profession of music seriously.

She was in town to have a feel of home and to work on the release of her woman power album in Ghana.

Woman Power is her debut solo album released in the UK in March 1999, a reflection of her various musical influences and experiences over the years and contains most genres of African music. Her pedigree includes performances with greats like the Calypso King Mighty Sparrow, Soca favorite Arrow, Lord Kitchener, Alexander O? Neil and renowned Trinidadian singer Davis Rudder.

Paulina?s interest in music began at an early age in Ghana, but at nine, she moved to London with her diplomat father and mother. Call her the unsung heroine of African music; she over the years produced a number of remarkable female singers including Miriam Makeba, Angelique Kidjo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Mbilia Bel.

A qualified nurse and a business woman, her charming presence never goes unnoticed whenever she enters a room or an auditorium. She is the only Ghanaian female artist to have performed at the royal festival Hall in 2004. Paulina performed during President Kuffuor?s birthday at the Castle on December 9, 2006 and took the audience at Citi FM?s historical Music of Ghanaian Origin (MOGO) concert by storm. Evidently, she is not a musician one will dare disrespect and doesn?t want to see other musicians disrespected either because she knows what?s up.