Ghanaian vocalist Adina Thembi believes the country’s music scene is moving forward, but not fast enough.
In a recent discussion on MX24, the award-winning singer reflected on what she would overhaul if she had the authority to reshape the industry. For her, the answer was simple: quicken the pace of development so musicians can operate in a more enabling environment.
“If I had the chance to change anything in the industry, I would speed up the growth. We’re growing as an industry. I will speed it up a little more to make things easier for musicians. This is our world and our 9-5,” she said.
Adina explained that while progress is visible, structural gaps continue to slow creatives down. She pointed specifically to limited access to certain tools and innovations that are standard elsewhere but remain out of reach locally. That gap, she suggested, ultimately affects output and performance quality.
“Some of the things we haven’t in this part of the world gotten yet, turn out to affect productivity. When we look outside, we see technologies that we don’t have yet,” she shared.
To illustrate her point, she turned to live performance technology. In many international markets, she noted, stage equipment has evolved to a point where sound can be fine-tuned to match an artiste’s unique vocal tone.
“For instance, microphones nowadays on stage can be programmed to suit the artistes’ voice, and they sound beautiful,” she noted.
Adina maintained that Ghanaian artistes have the talent to rival their global peers, but need the same technical backing to fully showcase it.
“When we watch international shows, we see how great some artistes sound and we can also sound so great. We don’t have that technology yet, but I wish we had so that we can also catch up.”
