Sarkodie is a good rapper, but is he a good lyricist?

There can be no easier (and let’s face it less expensive way) to shoot yourself to stardom in Ghana these days than making music especially if you have some DJ friends and people in the media, and a good producer.

Forget about lyrics, it’s all about the beat now, something a little techno with a noe-jazz instrumental or the world famous “Azonto” beat to which people can gyrate their waists is sure to make you a star. You might disagree but I dare you and anyone else to tell me the central theme of the hot Azonto songs, “Alugutugui”, “Aboodatoi” or even Sarkodie’s “You Go Kill Me”.

This is where I must make sure you know that this is not a hate post; it’s more of a passionate criticism and a wake-up call. So if you don’t take criticism about your favorite musician well at all, thank you for reading but please stop here.

Sarkodie is a good rapper, maybe the best in Ghana for now, but is he a good lyricist? A good rapper may rhyme cool with drool but a better lyricist thinks of both the meaning of his statement and its rhyming factor too. I hope Sarkodie fans are not dismayed yes he’s not so good a lyricist so if I should list my top 10 lyricists, he will be at #10.

It only fair to say that as I have a top 10 lyricist list, I have a bottom 10 list and without doubt C Zar tops this list closely followed by Secure. I somewhat find it appealing to my ear that these two’s musical careers seem to have taken an abrupt end.

Now having made mention of these names, I have to explain who a good lyricist is. To me a good lyricist is one who incorporates rhymes and metaphors into his rap, one whose rap has dual or triple meaning, one whose rap make you go like “why didn’t I think of that line”.

Some people tend to call them good punch liners; I call them the true lyricist. And funnily enough the acts not hailed by the Ghanaian media, C Real, J Town, Jay So. Paapa, Rumor, Scientific, Kay Ara, Kojo and the many labeled as “underground” or “upcoming” acts are the ones who are the better lyricists needed to put the Ghanaian music on an international front.**