I don’t give a hoot if he has a squabble with Kwasi Aboagye, and many listeners of Peace FM do not know if the two presenters on the same station have a problem, but Billy Ocean’s faux pas on radio last Saturday said volumes of his character.

Apparently, Sidney has been accused of plagiarism, pilfering or in the lay man terms, stealing a song and as the manager of the artiste, Billy was duly called upon for clarification on the issue and all he did was misfire, throw tantrums and cast unnecessary insinuations.

Every word that emanated from Billy was derogatory, maligning and rudimentary and fraught with mischief. I could hardly contain my consternation when Billy Ocean retorted that the host has been in GIJ so should know better, and that Kwasi Aboagye has spent years on radio and should know what kind of questions to ask. He went on the waffle that Kwasi do not know the meaning of compilation and went on to explain what compilation means. I was astounded and was about to explode on air until I decided to save my remarks for this space. What has going to GIJ and the meaning of compilation got to do with somebody stealing a song? Although I realized Kwasi’s emotions rising, he kept his composure and overlooked all the insinuations - otherwise it could have been a nasty confrontation between two presenters of the same station.

It is about time people realize that it takes more than just fame, popularity and radio presentation to manage an artiste. They way you talk, respond to questions, and reacts to issues define an artiste manager and I am sorry to say that Billy Ocean falls short of managerial status. Elsewhere, Billy Ocean could be fired as a manager for acting unprofessionally and bringing his name and the artiste name into disrepute.

Delay, manager of Daddy Lumba displayed much sarcasm on the same show months ago following Lumba’s abysmal performance at the MOGO show.

Delay and Billy Ocean’s repugnant attitudes bring to the fore the question of radio personalities acting as artistes managers. There’s nothing wrong for a radio personality to manage any artiste but management is a different ball game which requires learning and practice, otherwise you will blabber any how like Delay and Billy Ocean.

During the breakup of Nanamom, issues of songwriting and ownership of songs came up. Sidney went solo and when ‘Apuskele’ came out the issue of song ownership came up again because another artiste, Nana Debrah had the same song on the market. And when ‘Obiaa nye Obiaa’ dropped, two other artistes had the same song on the market. And now, we have ‘African money’ and ‘Ghana money’ and the issue of song ownership. I won’t pass judgment but if the history of Sidney and song ownership is anything to go by, then Sidney ought to sit up.

It is not a crime if you can’t write songs, but it is not morally right if you steal songs from others and steal their shine, their opportunity to also make some money and stardom. What happened to the saying, ‘One man no chop’?

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So was the case when Charterhouse front woman, Mrs. Theresa Ayoade had the opportunity to speak on radio like she’s been doing always, but this time, she was speaking in defense of her event-organizing firm which has been accused of some wrongdoings - and she misfired.

The bespectacled Mrs Ayoade is noted for her cool demeanor, her good communication skills, her genial smile and composure whenever she speaks on radio, TV and at events but on the fateful Saturday courtesy of Kwasi Aboagye’s ER on Peace FM, she heavily disappointed many of her admirers, listeners and observers when she uncontrollably lashed out on the show, the panel members and especially on Copyright activist, Carlos Sakyi. The manner with which Mrs. Ayoade attacked Mr Sakyi on radio could be described as unfortunate, unnecessary and highly evitable.

It is an undisputed fact that Ghana’s entertainment arena with respect to television and events would have been dormant if Charterhouse, a subsidiary of Multiple Concept Group of Companies, had not emerged. Charterhouse is one of the best if not the best event organizers in the country. They are so good in whatever they do, so well other people contract them to organize their shows for them, and I was amazed at how well the MTN ‘Hear our Roar’ concert held at the Independence Square, was expertly organized.

70% of our television programmes are Charterhouse produced shows and 80% of events held at our various auditoriums are Charterhouse-organized events.

Considering what Charterhouse is involved in, they are open and subject to criticisms every now and then. Since the advent of the highly-anticipated Ghana Music Awards, they have always been criticisms on the nominations, categories, award winners and performances; yet, the organizers take it within their stride and ameliorate upon them. They have been castigations on Agoro, It takes 2, International Music Fiesta, Miss Malaika, Stars of the Future, Master Sports, Rhytmz, 100 Laughs and others and yet Charterhouse handle all criticisms with such professionalism.

The question on everyone’s lips on the unprofessional outburst of Mrs. Ayoade was why she couldn’t handle this one. Was she pushed by some forces to do what she did? Or she was fed up with the criticisms; she thought the only way to handle them was rave and rant on radio?

The contentious issue that made Mrs. Ayoade hit the roof was simple. The allegation which was backed with material evidences and words from some top musicians involved was that; Charterhouse had put the Ghana Music Awards held years ago on VCD and sold them without the knowledge and consent of the artists. According to Copyright laws which were reiterated by Carlos Sakyi on the show, the move by Charterhouse was an infringement on the rights of the artists and was unacceptable. Carlos may have been extremely harsh with his criticism because he felt Charterhouse with all its experienced personnel should have known better.

Mrs. Ayoade, instead of accepting the fault of her firm, rather chose to defend their actions and say that; an issue that occurred 8years ago should not be accorded such relevance. I beg your pardon, Madam!

Ex-President Alberto Fujimori of Peru is facing jail term for abuse of power years ago when he was President. The late Dictator Augusto Pinochet of Chile faced extradition and many charges for crimes he committed against humanity decades ago.

Thanks to forensic evidence, crimes committed years ago are detected and culprits are brought to justice. So Mrs. Ayoade, if you guys did the wrong thing 8 years ago, it does not mean we should not talk about it because it’s past. No way!
Charterhouse are bound to face criticisms on their organizational skills like the overcrowding and ticketing issues that happened at the 1005 Laughs and Ofori Amponsah shows, like the poor coordination at the Miss Malaika event, like the allocation of prizes for winners at the Stars of the Future show and so on – and if Mrs. Ayoade’s reaction on radio is how Charterhouse would be responding to criticisms, then they are in trouble.

In her outburst on radio, she went like, “ We(Charterhouse) are doing our best, putting resources and personnel together to make sure everything goes on well, and we are tired, just tired.” Did I hear tired?

I would be the first to admit that Charterhouse are doing incredibly well for Ghanaian entertainment and we appreciate their efforts, but it does not mean we should stand aloof and act a fool when things are not going right? Absolutely not!
She said they are tired and it is natural for every human being to grow tired, even machines do tire – but the danger is that, when you are tired you do things haphazardly.

So my little advice for Charterhouse is a simple one: If Mrs. Ayoade and Charterhouse are tired, they should take a deserving rest, they should go for a vacation or something and then come back rejuvenated and refreshed to do things properly.

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Since the 1920’s when the likes of Bobby Briscal was killed by drug overdose till recently, when actor Heath Ledger was killed last month by dug overdose, celebrities have succumbed to this element. Many of the world’s talented entertainers have been killed by drugs and it is on record that drug –related deaths score first as the worst killer of celebrities as compared to deaths culminating from murders, automobile accident and ailments. Some used the drugs to commit suicide; others were killed by its overdose whereas the rest were annihilated due to complications from the drug use.

Ike Turner, Grammy award winner and ex-husband of soul singer Tina Turner, died last month from cocaine overdose with high blood pressure as contributing factor. Anna Nicole Smith, former Playboy magazine housemate and actress died of a lethal combination of drugs in a hotel in Barbados. Elvis Presley, affectionately called ‘The King’, who churned out many classics and starred in many hit movies died of a heart attack caused by overdose of drugs.

Jimi Hendrix, talented Black American guitarist who sold million records also died of drug overdose. Marilyn Monroe, the beautiful actress noted for her infamous romance with President John F. Kennedy died of drug overdose. Heath Ledger, the Australian Hollywood actor died last month in his home after overdosing himself with drugs.

Close to a thousand famous entertainers have been wiped out from the face of the earth through drugs and the list keeps lengthening and lengthening.
Pimp C, one half of the hip-hop duo UGK, was found dead in his hotel room after taking an overdose of mixture of drugs.

According to wikipedia and lifenlegacy.com, Ghanaian Kiki Gyan is rated as one of many talented celebrities killed by drug-related complications. Acclaimed keyboardist and a member of the Afro-rock group Osibisa Band during the 70’s, who at the time was voted the 8th best keyboardist in the world, whose career was derailed by years of prolonged drug use – was eventually found dead inside a church bathroom.
One of the many creative lads ever to grace the hiplife scene has been Okomfuo Kwadee.

I first saw Kwadee on stage during the rap competition of the Club Beer Miss Ghana pageant preliminaries – a show that was eventually won by the late Terry Bonchaka. Okumfuo Kwadee was so talented on the show; he was whisked to the studio to record his first album even before the show could wrap up. So good he was that, he came out with a unique and sublime style of rapping, a style that has been copied by copycats like Okomshefuo, Keewuo and Quata.

After four hit albums and awards under his belt, the last picture of Okomfuo on stage was disheartening. The last time he mounted the stage was at the 2006 Finale of the Nescafe African Revelation competition, he was said to be so ‘high’ he dressed tackily, forgot his lyrics and had to be forced off stage because he had no idea of where and what was going on around him. So it came as no surprise when Okomfuo disclosed that his mental instability was as a result of smoking too much of the weed – and it had to take Spiritual intervention to save him temporarily.

Like Okumfuo Kwadee, many of our entertainers are embroiled in the use of drugs even when they are privy to the perils of drug use. Almost 90% of our entertainers take drugs especially the hiplife artistes.

Drugs are chemicals that change the functioning of the body and there are legal and illegal drugs. Legal drugs are those that a person is allowed or prescribed to have by doctors or physicians and illegal drugs are chemicals, pills, liquids or parts of plants that people take to become intoxicated or ‘get high’. Examples are heroin, cocaine, cocaine freebase, crystal meth, marijuana, the leaves and flowers of cannabis plant (Most of our artists use this one as they smoke them back stage and usually before and after performances onstage), ecstasy and hashish are other illegal drugs.

Most of these drugs are addictive and once one gets stuck to it, it becomes a tedious task to stop using. People take drugs for various reasons- like when a person is sad, stressed, bored or frustrated; they take it to feel better temporarily.

Many of our artistes take it to get ‘high’ before performances to energize them to shout, and jump around. Most of them get stressed out due to performances at many shows, moving from television to radio and print interviews and they take it for relief but they get stuck to it and take it excessively and that is were the danger lies.

Many others take drugs just because they see it as fashion and makes them feel like thugs or hardcore in music. When people become addicted to it, the bodies become accustomed to having the drug that they can’t function without the drugs.

Nobody smokes better than Snoop Dogg, Raekwon, DMX or Redman but these guys take these drugs in optimum quantities that will not have inimical effects but when our hiplifers try such drugs, they take them stupidly and face the repercussions.

Even with their sophisticated Drug Rehabilitation Centers, most of them still can’t survive the virulent effects of drugs, so one can imagine a country which has no Rehab Centers but has its entertainers and youth entangled in the excessive use of drugs.

Drugs contain chemicals like depressants, hallucinogens and stimulants. Depressant slows the person down, to relax muscles and make them feel sleepy, and less stressed out. Hallucinogen changes a person’s mood and makes him or her see or think things are not really there. That explains why mentally-derailed persons can be seen laughing to themselves or dancing to no music or chatting to him or her self. Stimulants speed up a person’s body, especially the brain.

Usually, stimulants make a person feel high and energized but when it wears off, the person feels tired and sick.
Many find it difficult to stop using and those who manage to stop go back to it because of withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping drug use are vomiting, sweating and tremors.

If the person is not disciplined and dedicated to stopping, withdrawal symptoms compels him/ her to use drugs like in the case of Kiki. But if he/she is able to withstand these sick feelings, the body gets adjusted to being drug free again. Drug addiction has many related problems apart from damaging the brain, the heart and other important organs. People addicted to drugs get involved in robberies, fights, sexual promiscuity and addicts that do injection of heroin and crack are susceptible to infections such as AIDS and Hepatitis.

Entertainers worldwide can’t do without drugs as some take for the right reasons at the wrong times, whereas others take it excessively and it therefore behooves Artiste Managers ,Producers, relatives and friends of our entertainers to help them through but educating them on the dangers of drug abuse.

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In the gospel arena, if there is any personality that deserves a lifetime award in any award show, the only name that ricochets in my mind is Elder Mireku. I write with much pride and excitement that I have been listening to Elder Mireku’s songs since childhood by virtue of the fact that my Dad is a Church Of Pentecost Elder who copped every album of Elder Mireku (Big up to you, Elder Asamoah-Baidoo).

Elder Mireku is a role model for many people, some who have followed his trail and produced hit songs and sold millions of records and the numerous others who are aiming and yearning to be like him. As an artiste, the man is so humble and has a calm demeanor and has indeed endeared himself to the hearts of Ghanaians. Even as a child, his songs were spell-binding that I would stop in the middle of whatever I was doing to listen to him.

I don’t know when he first released an album but I am privy to the fact that the man has produced over 40 albums and not just albums but hit albums. One interesting bit about Elder Mireku and his albums is that he calls his albums ‘volumes’ and presently he is somewhere in the 43rd or 44th volume. Incredible! And he’s still going strong. Although, he has sold many copies, climbed the music charts and received rave reviews for his albums, he has unfortunately not won any award, at least not to my knowledge.

If Elder Mireku were to be any ordinary artiste, his popularity would have dwindled so much he would be mulling retirement from music because his style of singing has been the most-copied. On a lighter side, he deserves another lifetime award as the musician whose style has been most- copied by other musicians.

Elder Mireku’s style of singing has been hijacked so much so that, I feared he won’t command any style of his own for his subsequent albums. Apart from the Kwaku Gyasi and the Frank asomadas who have produced hit songs by blatantly copying his style, there are many others we hear on radio and see on television doing the trademark ‘Wobom’, ‘Glory’ ‘Wobom’. Everybody is now doing the ‘wobom’ it doesn’t feel original anymore. This goes to show what an inspiration Elder Mireku has been to all these copycats. Listening to his new song, I realized that he still sounded authentic, original and fresh and it is very distinct from all the others. It gives much credence to the saying that nothing beats the original and nothing will beat a true Elder Mireku sound, nothing.

It irks me so much when most of these copycats don’t give credit to Elder Mireku whenever they get the opportunity and we don’t care if they give the noble man credit or not because we all know they don’t have originality.

After years of singing and producing tunes, the man still looks young and exudes so much energy anytime he performs which is an attestation that the man takes good care of himself, unlike many musicians. I have had the opportunity of watching him perform live and the anointing that permeates through the auditorium is inexplicable – people cry, kneel, squat and lie down in worshipping God, with Elder Mireku’s songs as conduit.

Elder Mireku is truly a living legend, a man who has produced many soul-inspiring songs, been an inspiration for many, and motivates many. He has indeed blazed the trail for many people and he deserves all the plaudits. If man won’t award him, I know God rewards him everyday and he has been a blessing to gospel music and Ghana music. As for me, I won’t wait till he dies (although he’s not dying now) before I pen a tribute, so I award him Straight Talk Lifetime Achievement Award.

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The organizers made it into a week-long festival with special days for gospel show, highlife show and Industry awards due to its growing popularity but lack of sponsorship and patronage by the public compelled them to revert to just the awards night.

Mzbel is undoubtedly the highest selling female hiplife artiste in Ghana now and she wants her name to be scrapped out from the nominations and subsequent voting process.

Since making her feelings known, Mzbel has taken the flack from all quarters. Some are condemning her, others are supporting her call and others are nonchalant.

If fundamental human right is anything to lean on, then the lady has every right to make that call. Regardless of her reasons for wanting to opt out of the awards, she still has a valid point. Come to think of it, what has she got to lose?
She won’t get a car for getting nominated and she would definitely not get a house for winning a Ghana Music Award. Her name would be used to publicize the event, her pictures would be used in making the awards newsletter and her picture might probably be printed on the tickets. When nominated, her fans would vote for her via the SMS that generates money for Charterhouse and MTN. Her name and image would be used for the awards and if someone says Mzbel don’t have a right to request for omission, then I don’t know where the fellow is coming from.

I also get to hear the argument that winning a Ghana Music Award enhances your resume or CV. What resume or CV? MC Hammer was virtually the best among his peers in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and he won many awards but the man filed for bankruptcy years ago.

His many awards should have saved him from bankruptcy but it did not. Teddy Riley is the one of the all-time best producers and the front man for R&B group Blackstreet. He has produced hits for Blackstreet, Toni Braxton, Boys 2 Men and Toni Braxton, and has won numerous awards but Teddy is facing bankruptcy and is planning to sell his famous studio. His numerous awards are not saving him, are they? And his enriched CV is not saving him either.

In as much as Mzbel has a valid point, her reasons for wanting out of this year’s awards are flippant. Her complaints: whenever she’s nominated, panel members on Entertainment Review on Peace FM, Entertainment Hall at Asempa FM, Megahits on JOY FM, 205 on Channel R, Solid Gold Countdown on Radio Gold pass denigrating remarks on her songs, dressing and her life. Also, she’s been nominated several times but she is yet to mount the podium, receive a GMA and say all the thank yous.

Okomfuo Kwadee, one of the finest hiplife artists, after producing hit songs and getting nominated year by year, never won any award until he protested and threatened to withdraw from the event. The following year Kwadee got nominated, won an award and has kept mum ever since. Is there anyone out there who can articulate their grievances more than Rex Omar? Rex took Charterhouse on for years and punched holes in the organization of the awards and when he got eventually got an award, all the holes sealed miraculously. If Okomfuo Kwadee and Rex Omar could articulate their grievances and get the results, what stops Mzbel from doing same? Go get them girl!

On Mzbel’s issue with panel members and radio presenters talking too much about her, she should actually thank God she’s a celebrity in Ghana, where the word paparazzi is not very effective. She should go and ask the likes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. These ladies have no breathing space as paparazzi chase them everywhere, take photos, write and comment about their music, relationships and everything else.

Mzbel should know that there’s no privacy when you are a public figure or a celebrity because the media, the music lovers and your fans would like to know your every move. People are talking about her for few minutes on radio and she’s grousing. On the issue of getting nominated and not winning: Mzbel is getting the nominations every year but not winning because the other nominated songs sold more, got more airplay and topped the charts than her songs. Besides, getting a nomination is as good as winning the ultimate because you count as three or four people amongst a hundred that released songs within the Award year. The likes of Ohemaa Mercy and Koffi B were both nominated in more than three categories at last year’s event but they both left the awards show empty-handed.

Martin Scorsese is a legendary film director in Hollywood and has been directing movies since 1970, discovered and directed actors like Roberto DiNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and co. Scorsese has earned more nominations than any movie director for the Oscars but never won and ironically, others were winning Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Picture and others from movies he directed. In spite of all these, Scorsese never complained but remained resolute, committed and kept faith with himself to keep on directing good movies and when he finally won the Best Director for the movie ‘The Departed’ last year, it was hard-fought and memorable.

So Mzbel should relax, not be so mindful of everything said about her career and personal life and with commitment and hard work, her time ‘go come’.

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As I went through the story, I wondered if Mr. Ransford Tetteh and the others never took soli during their early years as journalists. Or is it because they sit in higher positions, they feel they could issue any statement for the sake of it?

I learnt from my some good friends in the media who are well vexed in soli issues that; soli is derived from the word Solidarity, also known as Handshake and if the name is anything to go by then Solidarity is not a bad thing at all.

Soli is something small, in fact very small when you compare it to what other professionals in the media take. It is something event organizers, musicians, promoters and producers give to journalists for attending their events and also to urge them to put the stories in their respective newspapers.

People try to compare Soli to payola and in many situations the two are quite similar.

Like producers, musicians and presenters say that payola is only an appreciation for a good work done; soli is also given and accepted as an appreciation for attending an event and writing about it. Some pay payola to get the necessary airplay for their songs even if the songs are sub-standard and the same way some others also give soli to make sure they get the necessary media exposure even when they are not worth the attention.

Unlike payola, where you get some radio presenters deny vehemently that they don’t take, every journalist or reporter has one way or the other tasted soli, including the GJA president( I stand to be corrected anyway).

The act of giving and receiving soli are witnessed at events like press conferences, press launches, album releases, and others. Soli is characteristically placed in an envelope and it is rare to see physical cash passing hands – and the first time I came into contact with Soli was on my first assignment for P&P a year ago, covering an event organized by one of the big event organizing companies in Ghana, although I have had a few tutorials on the nitty-gritty of soli by some of my peers.

The moment I was handed the envelope, I did not know what it was until my accompanying cameraman prompted me to open it up and give him his share and that was my initiation and introduction to soli.

Some event organizers are civil, understanding and well organized because even before the programme ends, they go round and dish out the soli-contained envelopes to reporters. Others also package the envelopes nicely and give them out to reporters’ right after the events. But then, some event organizers are not well organized at all, the PR or whoever do ‘hide and seek’ with reporters after such shows and there’s always ‘Tom and Jerry’ kind of chase and run between reporters and such event hosts.

On my first assignment and subsequent ones, I wondered why a form of register was fixed at the door which requires reporters to write their names and corresponding contact numbers but I came to the realization that – the register was to make sure that reporters that collect soli do put their stories in their respective papers or would otherwise get the ‘pressure’ calls to do the stories.

It is not funny when your editor refuses to publish a ‘soli story’ for fear of the soli giver putting excessive pressure on you to produce the story in the paper especially at a time when you’ve squandered the money.

It is also amusing that after a show, reporters open their envelopes with a big smile on their faces on seeing the amount in the envelope and other times, faces are etched with disappointment when the envelope contains such a meager soli.

In as much I say that soli is not such a bad thing, some reporters take it too far and are virtually intoxicated by it. They simply won’t leave you and give you any breathing space until you give them soli. The issue of reporters holding event hosts to ransom ought to be checked.

I remember a pretty lady journalist from a prominent newspaper that spearheaded the ‘soli attack’on event hosts. She was like a leech, wont leave you alone until you provide her something for coming to your event and she got a legion of other reporters to tag along always. Covering events and reporting events are part of the journalists/reporters job for which his/her employers pay him/her monthly and so the transportation fee for the reporter to and from the event venue should not be the burden of the host. It is the responsibility of the reporter to go out and get quality, good-to-sell stories and put them in the paper. That way, the onus lies on the reporter and paper to publish any story they deem fit and not publish any story they’ve collected money for and are also devoid of pressure from any quarter.

It is worrying to see reporters queue for soli and grumble with event hosts for paltry money called soli. Reporters/journalists are influenced by soli and you can’t blame them always. Most reporters/journalists are not being paid well by their employers and as such they would want to rely on the event host to cater for their transport for coming to cover the shows. Most media houses don’t have official cars to transport their reporters to various event venues and especially when most shows are held in the evenings and close at midnights, the reporter is always left stranded.

If employers can motivate their reporters not only with money but other logistics that would make their work easier, reporters would not dwell so much on soli and they would be in a better position to fish for and write good stories.

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Sidney has been known as Sydney aka Hiplife Ninja ( Hiplife monikers like hiplife osofo, hiplife okomfuo, hiplife heavyweight champion and rap doctor are understandable but hiplife ninja?) since his days as the front man for Nananom. He is also seeking for a name-change from Sidney to Barima, because, apparently there are cities, towns and many other foreigners (both males and females) known as Sidney (Sydney), and so like Batman, he wants an indigenous name and Barima is what he settles for.

Many say he is controversial but I say he’s creative and knows what to put out at what time. From his ‘Tinanapapana’ days, the guy has been churning out critically-acclaimed bangers that end up in the Ghanaian dictionary like words like Apuskeleke, Scent No, and now Africa money. These have become popular sayings in our daily lives.

I truly doff my hat out to Sydney for the lyrical prowess he has exhibited over the years in all of his works but I am a little disappointed with the delivery I hear on the Africa Money song. In fact, he rates as one the best hiplife lyricists alongside the likes of Obour, Kwaw Kese, Obrafour, Lord Kenya and Okyeame Quame.

Sidney is gaining much publicity over the purported sale of his latest song African money to some political parties and I can not fathom the brouhaha over the issue. Publicity is essential for any artist be it good publicity or bad publicity – so far as you hit the headlines in the newspapers and get mentioned regularly in the numerous shows on radio, and a clever artist like Sidney knows this and plays perfectly to the gallery and never lacks publicity. Personally, I see the frequent talk of what political party he sells the song to as a trivia, a complete frill.

According to many reports and also from the camp of Sidney, the acclaimed ‘Scent no’ was exclusively and supposedly sold to the ruling NPP, but I never got to hear the amount the song was sold for and I never heard any official from the party on record confirming that indeed, the NPP bought the rights to the song - so as far as I am concerned that story is a fib. Now I hear political parties are lobbying for the African money song and such news exacerbates my confusion over the matter. First of all, whoever said songs do win elections? Whoever said songs can persuade voters on whom and how to vote? Whoever said that songs can cause defection of members of a political party to the other?

Okay, the NPP did win the 2004 elections which pre-supposes that the song ‘Scent No’ which people claim was bought, helped them win the elections and I simply can’t figure out how that works. Some people are of the opinion that Sidney should sell the rights of the Africa money song, which actually belongs to Goodies Music to the NDC –for the reason that he sold the ‘Scent no’ to the NPP so its only right if this one goes the other way. Thinking about it makes me laugh out loud and soliloquize if Sidney only makes songs he can sell to political parties.

Let’s just say the right to the Africa money is sold to the NDC. Is there a guarantee that the song would give NDC more votes? Will the song make NDC win the 2008 elections? Perhaps, it would change the minds of floating voters to vote for the NDC or probably change the minds of some NPP supporters to vote for the NDC. The idea of a political party buying the exclusive rights to a song likes ‘Scent no’ or ‘African money’ is a fat, silly joke. The brazen truth is that ‘African money’ can’t alter somebody resolve of voting for a political party. All the song can do is make rallies interesting and lively whenever it is played at the rally grounds and that’s all it does.

I admit that the song is good, a catchy chorus and a sampled beat from Jeff Bogologo’s ‘Ei Alhaji’ song, but producer/singer Morris Babyface did most of the singing than Sydney. He had nothing much to offer apart from the repeated line “monkey dey work, bamboon dey chop, wa na money oga dey chop.”

Unlike ‘Scent no’ where he touched on various salient themes, African money has nothing special to it. I wonder why any political party would waste precious time to lobby for an ordinary song when there are other pertinent issues to grapple with.

My condolences to Sidney and the family. Stay strong, Barima.

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Ironically, with all its popularity and following, the most popular genre has never won the ‘Most Popular song’ award at any of the annual Ghana Music Awards – and it beat the minds of music enthusiasts. Gospel music is the most air-played song on radio and television, the best-selling music on the market, and the highly patronized music in Ghana. Checking all the music charts on radio, TV and print, gospel songs surpass all the others – commanding 15 spots on a Top 20 Chart.

The Song of the Year/Most popular song of the year prize is the topmost award at the Ghana Music Awards. It is the last prize awarded which signifies that, after awarding that category, nothing else is recognized – but unfortunately since the inception of the Ghana Music Awards in 2000, a gospel tune is yet to take home the top honour.

In the 8-years history of the much-publicized awards, Hiplife music has won the Song of the year prize for an unprecedented 4 times, highlife/contemporary highlife comes close with 3 and King Ayisoba’s indigenous Afro-beat boasts of 1. Daddy Lumba won the award with the controversial ‘Aben wo ha’. Kojo Antwi followed suit with ‘Tom and Jerry’ in 2001. Kontihene made a case for hiplife when he won the award with ‘Aketesia’ in 2002.

Lord Kenya’s ‘Medo’ was the most popular song in 2003 and VIP cemented the dominance of hiplife by the winning with ‘Ahom ka wom’. Obuor kept the hiplife rule alive by annexing the top prize in 2005 with ‘Konkontiba’. Ofori Amponsah saw to the revival of highlife/Contemporary highlife by winning with ‘Otoologe’ and then underdog King Ayisoba defied all odds and took home the coveted prize in 2007 with ‘I want to see you my father’.

The closest gospel music has come to winning the topmost award came in 2004 and 2007 respectively. In 2004, the now –oblivious Daughters of Glorious Jesus were top-joint award winners with 4 awards but they could not annex the most important prize as they were edged out by the now-floundering VIP.

It is confounding that gospel music with the huge patronage has not got there yet, especially when you consider the fact that a chunk of the voting rights go to the public. Why would the same public that purchase the huge number of gospel songs not vote for it to win the top prize? The only plausible reason is apathy – that the same people that follow gospel don’t follow the music awards.

Another year, new nominations and another round of voting beckons us and yet again gospel music knocks on the door of ‘Song of the Year’ award. Could 2008 be the year that a new record is encrypted in the GMA history books? Is this the year that somebody establishes his/herself as the first gospel musician to win the top prize? Can the jinx be broken? With the proceedings in the music terrain right now, I’ll be so damned if gospel music does not win this year. At all cost, by all means necessary, gospel should take it.

Any gospel artist who gets nominated should entreat his/her church to vote. If Kwaku Gyasi, a Church Of Pentecost member had entreated all the members in the over thousands assemblies across the country to vote for him, then you can guess what the results could have been (That’s just by the way). If Herbie Hancook and Jazz music waited for 50 years to get the top prize at the Grammy, Ghanaian gospel music can’t afford to wait in the wilderness for that long, somebody say Amen. All things being equal, I have inkling that a gospel song could annex it this year. My advocating for a gospel win is not just because it has not won it in 8 years, but it truly deserves to win.

No official nominations for the Song of the year category have been issued but the names making rounds are;
Daddy Lumba – Tokrom
Ofori Amponsah – Odwo
Cee - Osabarima
Ohemaa Mercy - Wadwen
Lenny Akpadie - Most High God

All the above pseudo-nominated songs stand a good chance of winning but I strongly believe that, it will be a ‘dogfight’ between Ofori Amponsah’s Odwo, Ohemaa Mercy’s Wadwen and Lenny Akpadie’s ‘Most High God’.

Ohemaa Mercy sold millions of records, topped the charts for multiple weeks and garnered maximum airplay and so has Lenny Akpadie sold millions and got maximum airplay. Ofori Amponsah could always give any nominee a run for their money and although Odwo did well, it lacked the same impact as Otoolege and Emmanuella. There fore, at the end of proceedings, I expect Wadwen or Most High God to walk away with the ultimate prize. If Ofori Amponsah beats them to it again, which is possible, then gospel music like jazz music at the Grammy, can wait till the next 50 years.

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Last December was agog with shows, live band performances and all but one or two shows cannot pass without scrutiny and commentary. Am talking about the Nana Quame – Ofori Amponsah challenge vis-à-vis, their respective shows last December.

Some people have stated that this media rhubarb between Nana Quame and Ofori Amponsah is trivial, silly and a waste of time. Yes, I concur but is it the media who told the Nana Quame to throw a challenge? And it definitely wasn’t me who told some media firms to publicize the so-called challenge. If the challenge was publicized, if the two artistes were publicized and if their respective shows were publicized thanks to this ‘challenge’, why should the outcome be hushed? Not me, I’ll comment on it, and if you deem it trivial, that’s your problem.

This Nana Quame/Ofori Amponsah saga always reminds me of the famous challenge between rap superstars 50 Cent and Kanye West. 50 Cent, based on the records of his previous album sales was overly confident and stated that if Kanye beat him to the first week of album sales, he would retire - and at the end of the day, Kanye pummeled 50Cent.

In similar fashion, Nana Quame came out strong and declared that if Ofori ever beat him to a live stage performance, he would never sing again. I could not blame Nana Quame for those audacious words and in fact when Channel R 205, Total Entertainment program sought my opinion on the Nana Quame challenge, I wasted no time in stating live on radio without fear or favor that Nana Quame would beat Ofori at any given day and time and I guess many others held the same opinion.

Based on the previous performances of the two, any true entertainment follower would have vouched a Nana Quame win without hesitation, but after the performances of these artistes on their much publicized shows, the outcome was clear, at least for those who had eyes to see and mouths to talk.

It would have been enthralling and good for easy judgment had the two performed on the same stage, but that notwithstanding, I still must declare the results. Reports from Ofori’s show were divergent, some said he wobbled, others said he did well and for someone like me who has been critical of Ofori, I can’t help but say that he was impressive on the night and many others left the ‘Ghana rocks’ concert happy.

Without a shudder of doubt, Nana Quame was supposed to be on top his game but at the end of Citi FM’s ‘December 2 remember’ concert, reports were unanimous that Nana Quame had flopped, awfully and miserably. His performance was so dreadful and dreary that he virtually pleaded with the audience to dance and sing along and it was by some intervention he was not booed and jeered off stage.

Personally, I can’t fathom why Nana Quame with such a silky voice, skillful with live bands could flop. After giving the debacle a serious thought, the only probable reason that might have accounted for Nana Quame’s disaster was complacency. The band was okay, the vocalists were okay, the sound was good and the microphones were at their best behavior, so Nana Quame had no excuse. By virtue of his splendid live performances, he might have grown complacent and that was his bane, his downfall and that made Ofori win.

The lesson to be learnt by all is that, no matter how good you are, never be complacent, and tackle every task with all the tenacity it deserves. Happy new year.

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It is therefore prudent that I also take advantage on my rights to free speech and free my mind in this article.

In his new single, A-Pluz recommends Nana Akuffo-Addo as the best candidate to lead the NPP in the next presidential election amongst the seventeen others, and it is acceptable for the artiste to articulate his preference which I don’t give a hoot.

But I do care when A-Pluz blurts out that delegates can go ahead and squander monies offered them by aspirants and decide not to vote for them and I also care when he makes scurrilous statements that if the presidential race was a beauty contest, Former President Obasanjo could not have won the Nigerian presidency.

This guy could have gone ahead and raved about his unflinching support for Nana Addo without making the attempt to denigrate some other aspirants with his faux pas.

Music is a full-time business and people get into it to make money but unfortunately I don’t see A-Pluz making that money. In fact, his so-called political songs don’t sell, they don’t sit on top of the regular music charts and event organizers don’t call on him to perform on their bills. Radio presenters play it regularly, pass comments about it and it ends there.

If you are a musician, your music don’t get patronage(sales), your songs don’t feature on the charts and you don’t get gigs to perform on, then desperation and anxiety would compel you to make that kind of music that can get you the money, and for me, A-Pluz is trying it with this new single. Repudiate and brush it off when you hear him in his typical braggadocio self say that he has never met Nana Addo before or after the making of the song, we’ve heard those lines before.

My face is always etched with agitation, bewilderment and despondency whenever I read or listen to any A-Pluz interview, like this one in the Daily Guide, 5/12/07 “ I am the only Ghanaian musician who researches before coming out to do a song.” What kind of research is he blabbering about? And the first to do research on his music? Issues raised by A-Pluz in his songs are items we read and listen to in the newspapers, radio and television, unless of course he goes to the offices of Daily Graphic to rummage for old newspapers for information or to Peace FM to inquire about tapes of news bulletins. Give us a break!

You can’t help but laugh out loud when he says, “I am the only musician in Ghana who has loyal fans.” Yes, the loyal fans that feverishly tune in to the radio to listen to your songs, commend and fawn over you with all the accolades but fail to purchase the songs.

And has anyone seen any A-Pluz music video? No?

When ‘Letter to Parliament’ came out, A-Pluz in another interview was asked if he sought permission from Kaakyire Kwame Appiah before sampling Kaakyire’s critically-acclaimed ’24th’, his answer was an emphatic no, and when prodded why, he goes like, “ I want to create controversy.” How infantile! Especially when you claim to be enlightened and decide not do the right thing.

Some music enthusiasts brand him as a brilliant chap who churns out good, thought-provoking lyrics and all, but how brilliant can you be when your much-talked-about song can’t make you money? I’d prefer to call such a person dim.

I like his swagger as an artiste but he should calm down during interviews and not go berserk with words. Coming out with singles anytime he feels like it won’t help. He should take his time and make good songs with constructive criticisms, songs that will sell because all the popularity must reflect in the pockets and if event organizers won’t call him, he should make his stagecraft more appealing and organize his own shows.

No hard feelings A-Pluz, am just exercising my right to free speech or free writing.

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