A Ghanaian hip hop and afrobeat artist, William Kojo Johnson, popularly known as Stay Jay, has disclosed that afro beats are the easiest music to make.
Stay Jay is from the time when Ghana’s pop music scene was predominantly Highlife, Hiplife, and Azonto.
He said:
“I honestly see Afrobeats as Highlife with a few new spices on top.
“This is the easiest level of music I have seen”.
Stay Jay
He explained that the internet was not that powerful in his heyday, but now, because of the internet, one can record a song in their kitchen, and as long as there is something catchy in there, everybody will take it.
He added:
“The success of the song is even more certain especially when TikTok users start making videos with it, then it comes to Instagram, Facebook – boom! You’d blow up everywhere”.
Stay Jay
He said his music gets enough streams for him to receive enough money.
Also, he remarked that his latest song featuring Kosi Sia is Afro-Piano (a mix of Afrobeats and Amapiano).
Rap star Stay Jay revealed that he has been around but has just been off the scenes for a while.
He explained that he took a little break to build up a great team and endeavor to fit in the new popular genre.
Jay said during this period, he also wrote songs for other artists. He said:
“I wrote songs for people in the UK, US, Nigeria, and others”.
Stay Jay
To buttress, he asked:
“Do you know I am the one who wrote Atom’s Ye Wo Krom?”
Stay Jay
The rapper indicated that every song comes with its unique price.
He stated that he was in the studio every day while on break, adding:
“I have recorded a pile of songs and I will release them for you back to back”.
Stay Jay
Stay Jay recalls Tema’s rap legacy
Tema-based rap star Stay Jay, fondly recalled the artists that brought the harbor city great glory in the days before Afrobeats took over from Hiplife.
Stay Jay cited Tema’s finest from back in the day, and they included DCryme, Sarkodie, Opanka, and the duo Ikonz, sometimes called Kasapa, made up of Qweku Zixu and Lyrikal Monxta.
The rapper said Tema can reclaim its dominance in music and they are still doing the work.
During the interview, the host noted to Stay Jay that attention has shifted to Kumasi’s Asakaa scene.
He responded:
“But our Tema boys are also doing really well, don’t forget”.
Stay Jay
He named Kwesi Arthur, B4Bonah, Nanky, Twitch, Icon, DayontheTrack, and many others whose names he may not even be familiar with but are also holding the mantle strongly.
Stay Jay, at this point, said Sarkodie is the Tema rapper he is proud of.
He noted that he saw from the very beginning that Sarkodie had a bright future because he was such a force from the get-go.
He also explained that Sarkodie started music before he did, however, his music became a hit before his popular song ‘U Go Kill Me’.
Noting that ‘Shashee Wowo’ is his biggest song, he named ‘Sue’, ‘Twa Me Lala’, ‘Prepaid Girl’, ‘Saa Aba’, and ‘Mugu’ as other hits in his repertoire.
He added that the songs are many.
Stay Jay’s ‘Sue’ hit features Tema fellows like Dr Cryme and Sarkodie.
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