Fundamentally, a pidgin or pidgin language is a simplified means of linguistic communication, as it is constructed impromptu, or by convention, between individuals or groups of people.
Pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is instead learned as a second language. In Ghana, pidgin is mostly used by the youth in tertiary and senior high schools.
The group Native Funk Lords (NFL) came out with pidgin rap; the originators of the genre were from the Kay’s Frequency camp: Tinniequaye, Cil, Jake & Eddy Blay.
Pidgin usage in Ghanaian music became predominant in the early 2000s with the likes of Shaker, Bra Kevin, Killmatic, Jayso, E.L, Wanluv and co.
Shaker in a celebrity interview with Cape Coast’s finest radio presenter Amansan Krakye on Radio Central said
“In Ghana, I’m so proud to be one of the pioneers for the use of pidgin in hip-hop and rap music.
Now, as you can see pidgin has gained international recognition and it is being used on BBC”.
Elikplim Yao Atiemo aka Shaker went on further to state that nowadays more artistes have developed the habit of using pidgin in their songs.
“These days most of the singing are done in pidgin and even those who rap in Twi adopt some pidgin words, so I think pidgin has come to stay”.
“However, my advice to the youth is that they should first of all grasp the proper usage of English language before hooking onto pidgin”.
When Amansan Krakye asked Shaker why people note him for being too comical in his songs, he said
“These days I have stopped fooling in my songs. Using humour was the Lil Shaker days but now I’m Shaker so I have attached more seriousness to my songs”.
Written By: Amansan Krakye of GBC Radio Central in Cape Coast
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