Adam Zulfawu | Sanatu Zambang Writers Retreat
University for Development Studies (UDS) established in the 1990s was meant to bridge the gap between the south and the north through education while also promoting the northern region but that is not the case when it comes to supporting the growth of the northern musicians according to Maccasio.
The rapper who was in the studios of Sanatu Zambang to promote his upcoming album, ‘Glory’ accused the university students representative council (SRC) of disrespecting and denigrating northern-based musicians. He explained that when it comes to the billing of musicians to perform, southern-based are preferred by the executives and are paid for their performance.
Northern musicians, he says are not considered and when they are called to perform, they are denied payment or paid less than what the southern musicians are getting. when billed are denied payment. This he says is not helping in promoting and elevating northern music.
”Music is our work. That is where we eat. So when you call on us to perform at your show, you need to pay us so we can invest back into our craft. The southern musicians are not better than us. We even cheer the crowd more during our performance than the southern musicians. They love us.”
Maccasio
The university which operates under a multi-campus system in Tamale, Nyankpala and now the separate campuses in Wa and Navrongo have annual SRC celebrations week. On these occasions, musicians are invited to entertain students and this is done in all tertiary institutions in the country.
Maccasio in the conversation said the other universities in the southern sector focus on inviting home-based musicians to perform at school events so he thinks UDS should follow suit. The love for inviting these southern-based musicians is another burden on the executives because they would have to book for flights, accommodation and feeding before the professional fees.
Ahead of @maccasio1 Glory Album | A trip down memory lane inside Zolahood https://t.co/1IKyfQGN9s
— Sanatu Zambang Studios (@SanatuZambang) September 26, 2022
The musician had to make a last-minute appearance during last year’s SRC week celebrations. Narrating the event, Maccasio said he was called by a close associate which he could not refuse. This eleventh-hour call he says should not have happened and even with the last-minute inconvenience caused, he was still not paid his professional fees.
Young rising star, Fad lan has also added his voice in calling for better treatment of northern musicians by UDS SRC executives. He made the call during the “ face of UDS” this year. He challenged the executives to consider northern musicians for their entertainment events in school. According to him, it was about time UDS involve them and pay them what they are due.
