I am very concerned about children in showbiz perhaps because of my experience with dealing with children as a teacher in the past.
There are a lot of talented children who either have not been discovered yet or are not confident enough to showcase their talents.
Especially in our educational and cultural milieu where teachers and parents use the ‘scare-crow’ approach to socialise children than encourage them to bring out the best in them, it is commendable when some of these kids are bold to let the world know what they are worth.
The first time I heard of Dhat Gyal (real name Ernestina Afari) was in 2017 while on one of my usual news hunting expeditions on youtube. She did a mashup of some popular songs and even though I didn’t find it extraordinary, I loved it.
I was happy that a young girl of her age could string different songs by different artistes into one piece and still make music sense with it.
Fast forward to 2018 and the girl is blowing up already. She has even been nominated for Vodafone Ghana Music Awards ‘Unsung.’
That notwithstanding, I strongly believe that she needs to undergo some grooming exercises. She has the raw talent and passion – what is left now is to get it honed and well managed.
Vocal Ability
I have heard Dhat Gyal sing both on record and at live programmes and I must be honest – she needs to work on her vocal delivery. Her management should get her a voice coach (if she already hasn’t got one). Of course, she is young but that should not be an excuse for mediocrity. She should be put through the training now before she grows into an ‘apotro’ singer.
She also needs to ‘open her mouth’ to sing out words of her songs. Her diction is poor; the nasal swank in her vocal delivery swallows the lyrics of her songs.
She should feel free to be herself and drop the Ebony idiosyncrasies. Ebony is dead and has created a void but no artiste can ever take her place. Every artiste is unique in their own way and must remain as such.
I believe that if Dhat Gyal carves her own identity, she would do better and excel in her music trade.
Get a stylist
Grooming a raw talent with scant resources is very difficult but at least your image must be of prime concern to you too. As we push her to the top, it is also worthy of note that, she needs to spruce up her physical appearance – from clothes, hair to her skin (I am not asking her to bleach – so she clears the acne on her face).
The music alone does not do the magic. There are a lot of showbiz people who are liked not only for their talent but also because of their looks and/or sense of fashion.
Show business is multi-faceted – which means that building a brand requires a holist approach to appeal to the senses of the consumer.
Don’t step in the world of ‘sex sells’
The world of showbiz can either transform people or make them conform to certain norms. At age 16, I expect Dhat Gyal to do songs that will have positive impact on the youth, especially those within her age bracket.
I have watched videos of few of her performances and her antics on stage portray clearly that with time, she would do what Ebony couldn’t do.
In as much as I think she did well at the Zylofon Cash Activation Concert at Aflao, I believe she must be reined in so she doesn’t get out of hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG0O8wkNgNw
Some may not see anything wrong with being ‘kittenish’ on stage at the age of 16 but it portends danger for children of her ilk and herself. Dhat Gyal did not strip on stage. She was covered up but as someone with a third-eye in showbiz, some of her moves on stage while performing bode ill for her.
I surmise from her story that since her mother passed away, she has not had the best of parenting. This coupled with the fact that she is from a financially weak background could expose her to snares of the showbiz game.
The kind of brand she creates and lives will determine what she plunges herself into or projects herself to.
I advise her not to give in to any brand that portrays her as a sex object. No! At least not now.
School first, music second
Fame is like a candle; it can quench at any time or melt down with time but education is the best treasure that can be given to any individual.
In fact, I was glad when entertainment journalist Attractive Mustapha interviewed her on her educational status. Just like I did for Tutulapato when he was taken from Accra to Breman Asikuma without going to school, it also occurred to me to raise similar issue about Dhat Gyal’s education.
Attractive’s story helped. It got the attention of the Chief Executive Officer of Zylofon Media, Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM1, to offer the ‘poor’ girl an educational scholarship to get into senior high school.
According to her, she was unable to continue her education because her mother who was her backbone, passed away.
I foresee a tendency of being swollen-headed and not paying attention to her books. I like the NAM1 affiliation; being someone who cherishes talents and yearns to push them, I trust his association with Dhat Gyal will yield positive results for the young artiste.
Finally, I encourage her management not to give up on making her better. At her age, the management led by Jeremiah Adjei needs to study the complexity of her psychology and deal with her accordingly.
The future is bright if things are done right.
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By: Kwame Dadzie/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
(e-mail: kwamedazzy@yahoo.co.uk)
