When she rapped her way to success as winner of MTN Hitmaker Season 6 in 2017, Freda Rhymz had high hopes for her career but a few years on, things have not quite progressed as she would have wanted it.
She says from her experience, it is difficult for rappers to break through the music market because in Ghana people do not understand rap. According to her, it took something for a rapper to hit the spotlight.
“I have come to realise that in Ghana, people do not understand rap so even as a rapper, you need to do something commercial. You cannot say you want to do strictly rap music in Ghana, it does not work that way.
“It goes beyond Ghana, in fact if you want to appeal to the outside world and gain that recognition, you need to have some kinds of songs that everyone will jam to,” she told Graphic Showbiz.
Defining what a commercial song was from her perspective, Freda said it was, “A song that is easy to sing along, one that doesn’t need much; a song that is easy to sing along to without stressing to learn the lyrics over and over again.”
While her claim is certainly contentious because there are many rappers who have had or still have thriving careers, Freda Rhymz said her observation did not mean that the industry also favoured only singers. “Not at all, we all have equal chances of making it big in the industry,” she stated.
In trying to make a much bigger imprint on the music industry, last year Freda Rhymz released a new song, Sing My Song, on which she does about 95 per cent of singing.
“Every artiste needs a commercial song that will push you into the market. As a rapper if you are able to come out with a commercial song, it will shoot you to that level that you want.
“I want people to see my versatile style so when the team came up to me and we brainstormed, we concluded that doing that song was good. Honestly, I didn’t know I had that in me, this tells you what happens when you have a good management,” she said.
Sharing her thoughts on the music industry and how female acts could stand out she said, “It is male-dominated, but we have to keep encouraging ourselves that things will get better so for me, the least chance I get, I encourage those coming up that we should not give up.
“As females we need to take our brand seriously, how you sell yourself determines how others will buy you,” she noted.
On how she was faring since she signed on to a new management, Young Mission Entertainment, Freda Rhymz said it was going fine.
“It has been good working with my new management, I have all that I think will help me in my career. I must say the team and I understand where we want to go and how we want to get there,” she stated.
Freda Rhymz kicked off 2020 with the release of her new single titled Agoro, featuring Hiplife artiste Article Wan, who also produced the track.