It astounds me that people like Mr. Dennis Danso Acquah with his article “Give us a break, Sound Engineers”(Graphic Showbiz, January 20, 2005); fail to recognize the pivotal role sound engineers play in the success story of artistes.

I’ve always held the view that beats can make or mar a song and if the song becomes a hit, the sound engineer, no matter how it’s done, deserve plaudits. The writer’s qualm is the signature tune or names of these beat makers on the songs of artistes.

Well, let me make it known to Dennis and others who’ve beef with the practice that, their names being mentioned on the songs doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve rights to the song.

It only goes to say that they’re (sound engineers) responsible for such incredible beats. I guess the writer has only restricted himself to listening to hiplife, otherwise he would’ve realized that the likes of Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, etc do mention the names of Just Blaze, Neptunes, Timbaland etc as their sound engineers and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The writer should also listen to songs till they fade and he’d realize that the names mentioned by the artiste at the end of the song represents the backing vocalists, the mixers and the executive producers he lamented about.

It has never been mandatory that artistes mention the names of the engineers on their songs; rather, they just do that to show their appreciation and also to market the good works of sound engineers.

If the mention of names of the engineers is a nuisance, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

He exposed his ignorance by stating that Ghanaian music history was devoid of such practice until the emergence of Hammer.

So, was he expecting us to remain primitive and stagnant with our music? I commend Hammer and Obrafour for blazing the trail for the others to follow. He also made statements about marketing, where the artistes are supposed to be marketed and not the sound engineers.

How vague. Both the artistes and the beat maker are marketed, afterall, the beat and the lyrics are intertwined, they go hand in hand to make the song complete. Jay Q, Hammer, Appietus, Morris, RoRo, Cyrus and the rest are doing an excellent job and deserve praise.

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