Panji Anoff believes that pidgin English may be Ghana’s strongest cultural weapon in global music, yet he says many artists are sleeping on its potential.
Speaking to Kafui Dey, Panji shared that international event organizers consistently request African reggae acts who sound distinctly African, not like Jamaican clones.
“If they want some reggae from Africa, they don’t want a Ghanaian who sounds like Bob Marley or Sean Paul,” he stressed.
“They want someone who sounds like they come from here.”
He compared the situation to Jamaican artists who visit Ghana and easily pick up the local pidgin but avoid faking it in their music.
“They might put one word, but they are not going to use somebody else’s language to make their own music,” he explained.
Panji highlighted Nigerian singer Patoranking as a perfect blueprint for success.
“Do you know who they always want? Patoranking doesn’t sound Jamaican. No, he sings Nigerian pidgin.”
He believes Ghana must nurture a pidgin-heavy music industry so the world can hear African authenticity without linguistic compromise.
