Ghanaian musician Okyeame Kwame has shared insights into why many contemporary songs seem to lack meaningful storylines, agreeing with veteran broadcaster Tommy Annan-Forson’s critique of modern music.
Speaking with Kwesi Kyei Darkwah on CTV, Tommy Annan-Forson criticized today’s music, describing it as lacking depth and coherence. “I virtually don’t listen to our [modern] music because there’s nothing to understand. There’s really nothing to understand. It’s just blabber music. There’s no storyline,” he remarked.
In a Facebook post responding to Tommy’s comments, Okyeame Kwame acknowledged the broadcaster’s concerns, particularly regarding pop music, but provided additional context to explain the evolution of modern storytelling in music.
“I want to assume he meant ‘pop’ music. This statement is very controversial because we are no more in the audio-visual era; we are in the visual-audio era,” Okyeame explained. He noted that modern music relies less on lyrics to tell stories and more on visual tools like music videos, TikTok dances, and other social media trends to convey its narratives.
Okyeame further argued that this shift in storytelling is intentional, allowing listeners to interpret songs in their own way. “The background elements are now being used to elaborately express the stories behind the songs. So, yes, pop music is not lyrically telling stories. It is intentional. They leave some meaning to audience interpretation so that the listener can take part through interpreting the song via social media reactions (dance, skits, speech, etc.),” he stated.
He attributed this change to the transition from an “audio-visual era” to a “visual-audio era,” where visuals now lead the storytelling process.
Urging for a more open-minded view, Okyeame Kwame concluded, “Let’s look at art with respect for the creators and the audience equally. That’s how we can fully appreciate the ‘why’ behind this shift.”
