Fast-rising Ghanaian spoken word artist and poet, PenGod, has made a passionate appeal for the Ghanaian music industry—particularly major award schemes like the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA)—to create a dedicated category for spoken word and poetry.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with NY DJ on RYSENSHYNE on Y102.5FM, PenGod argued that poetry and spoken word should no longer be treated as an exclusive art form meant only for a certain elite class. Instead, he believes the craft should be embraced as a household genre for everyone.
“When you talk to the ace, the the the legends, the OGs, they mostly associate poetry to some kind of class, some kind of people that I don’t really—I beg to differ, cuz I believe that words everybody speaks, exactly, and everybody listens. So why should we associate this craft to some particular kind of elite like ‘this poetry is for the elite’? No, I don’t believe that. I believe poetry is for everyone and everybody can listen to poetry, everybody can understand poetry as long as we make it look creative for everybody.”
“The award schemes—whether the Telecel Ghana Music Awards, the 3 Music Awards, every—whatever music awards in the country, should associate, should have a category of spoken word or afro-word in it.”
To bridge the gap between poetry and mainstream commercial music, PenGod revealed that he has pioneered a unique sub-genre he calls “Afro-Word”—a seamless fusion of spoken word over authentic African rhythms and frequencies.
Reflecting on his journey, PenGod acknowledged that his big break came through Ghanaian dancehall heavyweight Stonebwoy. He recounted how an organic social media buzz—sparked by a performance utilizing 70 of Stonebwoy’s song titles—eventually caught the attention of the award-winning artiste. This led to a surprise invitation to introduce Stonebwoy at a TGMA industry event, an opportunity that instantly catapulted him from the underground scene onto the nation’s biggest platforms.
Watch the full conversation below.
