Celebrated highlife musician, Ibrahim Ramatu who was known in showbiz as Mama Rams, was laid to rest on Monday 10 February 2020, at her home town in Walewale, after a short illness. The late Northern iconic songstress was a mother of two sons.
When a favorite musician dies, their void affects us in an abstract way similar to how their music speaks to us: it’s universal but inherently personal. While we feel sadness when a musician dies, the bulk of what we’re mourning is something within ourselves not them.
The increases in airplay and social media outpour are driven by a few different factors. A lot of it is curiosity sparked by news coverage of the artist’s death, people who may have had a passing familiarity with the artist might see the headlines and decide to give them another listen.
For those who didn’t know the artist personally. It offers the closest thing to a communal mourning experience. You can’t go to a celebrity’s funeral, but you can mourn privately by bingeing their music.
Below are some of the Top 10 singles from Mama Rams Albums
In 2004, Mama Rams first Album, “Lam bela bela” which was released under the Record Label – Big Time Entertainment made its way into the record books as one of the most sold Albums at the time. Over 10, 000 copies were sold in the first few months of its release. Mama Rams became a household name in most parts of Ghana in less than a year of her breakthrough.
Mumuni Yirifa Yunus
Tamale has demonstrated that it is untrue that Northern music is not sellable and that Northern musicians need to relocate to the South to become successful. Industry stakeholders have worked tremendously to establish one of Ghana’s biggest cities as the music hub of the country. This way, musicians do not only entertain the public, but they also contribute to media documentation of the culture of the community which in turn affirms, re-defines and preserves the culture of the city.
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
The city of Tamale combines culture and tradition with the contemporary to produce an unexpected urban musical space, demonstrating time and again that it’s the music capital of Ghana.
The growth of contemporary music in Tamale drew directly from tradition with the likes of Sirina Issah, Sherif Ghale, Mr. Razak, Abu Sadick, and Mama Rams, taking from their socio-cultural and religious positions to feed the essence of their music. The story of Tamale music is incomplete without the Blackstone duo, one of the first groups to gain popularity nationally with their “Be Fe Mano” and “N’Yura” songs.
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
Though contemporary music has existed for decades, the industry saw an explosion in the early 2000s when artists dabbled in genres beyond what had been built by pioneering artists. Today, Tamale’s music industry is an interesting blend of music and musicians from various backgrounds, with most of the music production done in the city. The regional capital, Tamale, was one of the first cities to host a regional music award show, which inspired others to follow suit.
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
Mama Rams lasting legacy is bound to definitely live on as her songs mostly captured the struggles of life, the nothingness of mankind, the strength of womanhood and the purpose of embracing love and togetherness
Abdul Raafi Mohammed-fishbone
Maybe it is time for the authority to turn their attention to the art sector if they really want to fight unemployment in the region. The creative arts industry players are not asking for money in their pockets. But what they need is infrastructure, investors, and regulations that can help propel them to excel in their field. What they seek is for the authority to see it as an equally important sector of the economy that contributes to the economic growth of the town.
Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria
The creative arts industry can contribute immensely to the development of a country. This sector can be used to reduce the employment rate in the region. It can also be used to educate and start a campaign on serious issues that threaten the survival of the people.
Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria
Although artists in the Northern Region have been critiqued for using alternative distribution strategies to get their music to fan communities across the region and beyond, these strategies seem to be working for the musicians since it has made their music more accessible to their core fanbase. Many musicians who have steadily established their careers make their work available on YouTube, iTunes, and SoundCloud.
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
Tamale’s music industry is more vibrant now than ever because industry stakeholders understand the cultural, social and religious context within which they operate and utilize this understanding to gain goodwill from the public, traditional leaders and sometimes politicians
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
Tamale which has been touted many times as West Africa’s fastest-growing city is proving that it is indeed the music capital of Ghana. Many mainstream Southern-based artists are clamoring to be invited as guest artists to concerts in the city.
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed
Tamale has the potential to become the third force of entertainment powerhouse in the country if we can regroup and give every talented person in all the field a chance to blossom.
Tamale is still a virgin place that can be explored to unearth a lot of talented people in the creative arts industry. Remember Tamale is among the fastest-growing cities in West Africa.
The industry needs investors to come and explore and the many sectors also need the support of all who claim to have the growth of the northern entertainment at heart.
Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria
