Ghanaian rap icon Sarkodie has stated that artistes carry a responsibility to use their platforms to speak for the people who elevated them.

In a conversation with Nigerian music broadcaster Adesope Olajide at the O2 Arena, Sarkodie was asked about the expectation placed on successful entertainers to serve as 'spokesmen' for their communities and advocates for the voiceless.

Sarkodie acknowledged the responsibility but also defended an artiste’s right to choose their battles carefully.

"Depending on what you want to speak about, you have to stand for something. If people feel like that, I think they're a thousand percent right.

"Of course, as an artiste, you have to weigh yourself in and be very sure what you're about to speak about. Just because they want you to speak about it doesn't mean all the time, you have to,” he noted.

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On whether artistes should stand for something, Sarkodie pointed out that fame affords them a reach that ordinary citizens do not have.

"What I would say might hit nerves that maybe the common person might not be able to hit. I might say something; the President would hear it. I'll tweet something, and you will see it on the BBC," he said.

For Sarkodie, that reach is not a privilege to be hoarded but a debt to be repaid.

"With the power that the people gave to you, this is one of the few things that you have to give back to them, because they made you who you are, so you can speak for them," he concluded.

His remarks come as he prepares for one of the biggest moments of his career: a near sold-out concert at London’s O2 Arena on March 6, 2027, billed as Rapperholic UK in celebration of Ghana’s 70th Independence Day.

Watch the video below:



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