Background vocalists need to be recognized in Ghana – Legendary Nana Ama Dadzie

Legendary Ghanaian backing vocalist Nana Ama revealed a new movement set to champion the rights of backing vocalist in the county. According to her, many of her comrades are going unnoticed for all their hard work.

Anna Nana Ama Dadzie detailed the challenges of backing vocalist on 360. Speaking with Giovani Caleb, she revealed that she has been a backup singer for 22 years.

She said, “The unfortunate part is here in Ghana, we don’t regard background vocalists. Out there, if you are a background vocalist. It’s a job. It is a full-time job. If I should be a frontliner, I still need a background vocalist to work with. So I did not see any reason for me to be a frontliner because that was also a job.”

According to Nana Ama, her first hit was with Lord Kenya on his song, ‘Medo’. She said after the song became a hit, she started working with Zapp Mallet. Who connected her to musicians and gigs. This was a huge move for her because everyone in the industry knew that Zapp Mallet works with professional background vocalists.

She said staying as a background vocalist all her career was a personal decision. She referred to Diana Hamilton, Hannah Marfo and Pat Thomas, who were once background vocalist before pushing out to the front.

She said lack of recognition forced her colleagues to do their own songs instead of staying in the background.

Nana Ama emphasized the importance of backing vocalist to musicians. She mentioned how her chorus motivated some musicians to actually finish up their songs. So if musicians derived such incentive from them, then background vocalists should not be overlooked.

Unfortunately, the narrative hasn’t changed much in this era. According to Nana Ama, this is the rationale for forming the Ghana Background Vocalist Association.

She said she started this movement last year to ensure backing vocalist are treated fair and square. And also receive any enumeration which they are entitled to.

She urged all background vocalist to come and join the movement before it is too late.