There have been various arguments about music appreciation and what informs the tastes of music consumers. This is steeped in theories that point to different variables.

What makes a song relevant and impactful for years? How does a song appeal to other people outside the geographical location of its composition or release?

Music in itself is a universal language, which means that anyone living anywhere in the world can appreciate any form of music produced from any part of the world. This explains why a lot of Ghanaians may not understand a word in ‘Despacito’ by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, 'Zoblazo' by Ivorian musician Freddie Meiway, ‘Windeck’ by Cabo Snoop from Angola, Master KG's 'Jerusalema' and Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ but will still dance, nod, hum, or snap their fingers to these songs.

Sarkodie’s ‘Adonai’ remains one of the most streamed Ghanaian songs across the world but it is done predominantly in Twi. Same can be said about the non-English language songs by Wiyaala, Afro Moses, and Atongo Zimba, which are enjoyed by non-Ghanaians across the world.

However, there are limitations to the “music is a universal language” theory. Technically, music is different from a song. A song comprises the music of a composition and the lyrical content. Words are added to music for a purpose; to inform, educate, inspire or entertain. This means that one will be limited in their appreciation of a song if they can only enjoy the musical element but do not understand the message. Being able to relate to just an aspect of a song doesn’t give one the full appreciation of the piece of art work.

Songs that live on after years usually have great sound quality, great instrumentation and sometimes messages that people can relate to.

Production is key in the longevity of a song. A lot of Ghanaian musicians do not consider their musical works as records. Because of this, they hardly invest more resources in churning out masterpieces. There are a lot of Ghanaian songs released just about ten years ago that have deteriorated in quality. The problem is that, there are a lot of music producers who know zilch about audio engineering but take on that task.

Also, for a song to live with music lovers for ages and appeal to different people across the globe, music makers must massage the soul of the song. That’s the music: rhythm, melody, harmony, texture and all other elements. Being able to create elements that tickle the fancy of people is a great achievement.

The most controversial component of a song that largely informs its marketability is “lyrical content.” Some people look out for songs with lyrics they can relate to, lyrics that communicate to them in various ways - tell their story, console them, give them hope or possibly draw them closer to an objective of worship.

Research shows that songs that stay with music consumers have simpler and catchy choruses. After listening to a song, there should be that one magnetising element that would make you remember the song. The chorus, should be introduced in the early part of the full piece. Once the listener gets hooked on to the song, they journey through it.

In all these, knowing one’s target audience at any point in time, helps to know the style to employ in a music composition.

The type of language to use for compositions has also been one of the biggest debates in the music industry. Angelique Kidjo, an internationally-acclaimed Beninese singer, speaks Fon, Gen, Yoruba, French and English. She sings in all five languages.

A lot of people mention her when making their case for “language is not a barrier” arguments when it comes to songs traversing boundaries.

Although she is widely known for singing in her native languages, she also has a number of songs in English and French. It’s all about target and purpose. She usually chooses to do her songs in English and/or French when she wants to communicate beyond melody and beat.

‘Mother Nature’, the song she did on Climate Change that won her a Grammy, was done predominantly in English. She also has English songs such as 'Flying High', 'We Are One' and 'Once in a Lifetime'. Perhaps if she had targeted just her local market, she would have done these songs in her Fon language. She needed to communicate beyond instrumentation so she used a language a lot of people in the world would understand.

Messages in songs really matter and the languages in which they are done cannot be underestimated. This is why people spend time to creatively put together words, employ various literary devices and writing tools, and lace them on music to produce songs. This is why people would listen to Kofi Kinaata’s songs and extol his gift of lyricism. Words in songs are so powerful that they can make one sad or happy.

A few years ago, Nigerian pop culture journalist, Joey Akan outlined reasons Diamond Platnumz was not visible in Nigeria and he mentioned the language of most of his songs. He thought Diamond could penetrate the Nigerian market more if he did some of his songs in English.

In 2021, I interviewed one of the hottest gospel artistes in Tanzania, Joel Lwaga, and he mentioned why he decided to add English to Swahili in his compositions.

According to him, gospel is one of the music types that thrives heavily on message. Gospel is identified by its message of winning souls for Christ through themes like thanksgiving, repentance, forgiveness, salvation, among others.

He told me that as a gospel musician his target audience must understand the language he used, because some people repent after listening to the words in his gospel song; not the melody or the beat.

I agree that songs may cross borders because of the beat or melody - but the type of language one uses will determine how wide the message will go. With this elementary logic, it is just wise that if you want to speak to THE WORLD about Jesus Christ through your song, you use a language a lot of people in the world understand or a combination of the top most widely spoken languages. Obviously not Twi, Ga or Ewe.

Out of the world’s population of 8 billion people, English still remains the most spoken language with about 1.45 billion speakers across the world. If your target is a Francophone market, you try tinging your composition with some French. If you want to preach to only Ghanaians through music, use Ghanaian languages. Even with that some of the Ghanaian languages will give you more reach than others. So target is very important.

If an artiste sings in Swahili and the elements of the music move the consumer, they have scored a point, but the consumer gets a better appreciation if they understand Swahili.

Apart from the zouk influence in Barima Sidney’s ‘African Money’ that features Morris Babyface, it became huge in Ivory Coast and other Francophone countries because he did some of his lines in French.

Ghanaian artiste of international repute, Wiyaala sings in her native language Sissala but she has songs in English too. That is an added advantage to her market; so she can appeal to some people who would want more from her apart from her sweet melodies.

Ghanaian Afrobeats star, Camidoh has had a crossover effect with his ‘Sugarcane’ remix, making it the most streamed Ghanaian song on YouTube with over 100 million views, largely because it was done in English. KiDi penetrated the Indian Market with ‘Touch It’, not just because of the groovy beat but also because the people could relate to the lyrics. Videos of Indians dancing to the song and ‘touching it’ proves they really got the message in the song. King Promise is enjoying a similar feat in some Asian countries like Singapore and Indonesia. They don’t just sing his ‘Terminator’, they are immersed in the song because they understand the language – English.

Recently, videos of some American YouTubers reacting to Lyrical Joe’s rap popped up and I observed with glee, how they were enamoured of the Ghanaian rapper’s works. They could not have done that reaction or breakdown if they didn’t understand the language Lyrical Joe used.

There is a reason South Korean boy band, BTS would do some of their songs like ‘Butter’ and ‘Dynamite’ in English. There is a reason Burna Boy does same.

Music is a universal language but songs are more than music. Songs have lyrics which are composed to communicate. Therefore, to fully appreciate a song, you must enjoy the music and understand the lyrics.

The possibility of getting international acclaim with songs that are done in unfamiliar languages to the music consumers or the target community, is very slim (not impossible).

In is important to note that having your song played and streamed across the globe is a great achievement but not enough. Sustaining the relevance of that song, making it stay in the hearts of music lovers for years, comes with effective music business strategies and hard work.

Musicians must invest a lot in their production, study what the people want, appeal to the hearts, minds and souls of music consumers, to stay afloat in the game.

NB: This article, written by Joy FM's entertainment journalist Kwame Dadzie, was first published in the 2024 edition of the Telecel Ghana Music Awards brochure.