Rocky Dawuni hails reggae’s role in promoting Ghana globally

Internationally acclaimed musician Rocky Dawuni has highlighted the pivotal role Ghanaian reggae has played in projecting the country’s music and culture onto the world stage.

Speaking during a live X Spaces discussion, the Grammy-nominated artiste explained that reggae, when fused with authentic African rhythms, has become a powerful medium for telling Ghana’s story globally.

“We added elements of our own authentic original African sounds into it to recreate it and repurpose it. Since then, it’s also had its own trajectory and its own evolution. I believe that the music has been able to speak on behalf of our country,” Dawuni said.

While lamenting that local radio stations often recycle reggae songs from over a decade ago, Dawuni emphasised the genre’s global growth, including its variants such as dancehall. He pointed to his own milestone achievement in 2016, when he earned Ghana’s first-ever Grammy nomination in the Best Reggae Album category.

However, Dawuni was quick to credit the pioneers who laid the foundation for international recognition of Ghanaian music, citing trailblazers such as Osibisa and Guy Warren, who achieved global success long before the modern era of Afrobeat and reggae stars.

“So I’ll say that [reggae] has contributed immensely to the internationalisation of Ghanaian music and also to bringing Ghanaian culture and Ghanaian voices to around the world in a very powerful way,” he concluded.