Okyeame Kwame: Amerado, Lyrical Joe are better rappers than me

AWARD-winning rapper, Okyeame Kwame, is stoking what might result in a long debate with the assertion that there is no point pitting the new crop of rappers against the old ones because the former are simply better and more creative.

The Woso hitmaker acknowledged that even though his stance might court trouble, it is about time the old rappers accepted and resigned themselves to the fact that the young ones had taken over the baton and were doing way better than they did in their time.

In a conversation with Graphic Showbiz on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, Okyeame Kwame noted that it would be an indictment on the Ghanaian music industry and on the concept of evolution if the new crop of rappers were less creative and talented than their forerunners.

“For me, I don’t think there should be a debate or any questions raised on this. The young ones are completely better than us and that is the whole essence of evolution.

“If the young rappers cannot take over and do better than us, then we have failed completely. I only speak for myself, I can’t compare myself to young rappers such as Amerado, Lyrical Joe and Flowking Stone. Not at all, not by a long stretch.

“This is because the young 20 something -year-old rappers are much better than us or should I say better than me. Sometimes, when I listen to Kofi Mole, the Asaaka Boys, they just blow my mind. The way they can take just anything and make it creative is beautiful,” he stated.

The 2009 VGMA Artiste of the Year also noted that back in the day, there were just about 10 rappers but times had changed with many talented rappers in the system doing very well.

“How many rappers did we have in my time? Just about 10 or so—  Akyeame, Ex-Doe, BukBak, VIP, Reggie Rockstone, Obrafour and Nananom. Now, everybody can rap and about 70 per cent of them are extremely talented. So yes, the new crop of rappers are better than us,” he added.

The father of two also acknowledged that technology had enhanced the creativity of new rappers, noting that young folks had always been his first port of call when writing his songs.

“There were so many things I didn’t know when I was a budding artiste, including how they are making the music interactive these days.

“For me, it is a learning curve and I learn a lot from them. For instance, when I am writing a song and I get stuck because of a creative block, I call one of these young rappers to ask them, ‘what word rhymes with this, how you would say this’. They have been very helpful and I can’t deny that”, he stated.