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Tag: Ghana
GHANA : Samini did not win any award
Samini It has emerged Samini did not win the award for BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT at the Black Canadians Awards held in Canada last weekend, contrary to an earlier report.
Samini’s team had relied on series of press publications on the subject, and came to the conclusion that their act had won.
However further checks reveal the award went to Trinidad and Tobagao’s Destra Garcia. The category also had Nigeria’s Waje, South Africa’s Lira and Khuli Chana as well as the Bajan female Soca act Alsion Hinds as contenders.
One, Julz of GhanaMixtapes, who was at the event and had relayed the information to the press, has since taken to twitter to apologize to Samini.
Samini has accepted his apology, saying “blunders do happen.” “Maybe i should have waited to see confirmation on the BCA site.”
The earlier statement we published from Samini’s camp in the morning read:
The African Dancehall King SAMINI, wins another International Award, this time; “BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT” at the Black Canadians Awards held on the 7th of June at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada . He was in the same category with Allison Hinds, Khuli Chana Waje, Destra Garcia and others.
Award-winning Samini continues to show cause for why He believes in African Dancehall Music and making Ghana Proud, while the international community and brands keep recognising Him for such great strides in promoting Good African Dancehall music.
This is another feat in a week where Samini gears up to Launch His Lounge and Restaurant- “DanceStardom” and surely, it will be one big party/celebration this Friday.
Thanks to all fans and everyone who contributed to Samini winning this award. #GH #DanceStardom launches on June 13th with the mega celebration. HighGradeFamily……..#AkyeSaaaa
Sgd.
Anthony Pun Daning
Samini Music-HighGradeFamily
GHANA : Stonebwoy talks dancehall ….says Ambolley is right
Stonebwoy Dancehall icon Stonebwoy has added his voice to calls for uniqueness in Ghanaian Dancehall and Reggae music.
According to him, though what Ghanaian Dancehall musicians are doing now is pure Jamaican Dancehall, it will make sense to add a little bit of Ghanaian flavour to make it unique.
He was commenting on a recent statement from ace saxophonist, composer and rapper Gyedy Blay Ambolley that Ghanaian Dancehall artistes should do well to get a unique identity that would differentiate them from their Jamaican counterparts.
“We do Jamaican Dancehall and Reggae in Ghana a lot, so if we are doing Dancehall and Reggae, I don’t know how else you want it to sound differently from the regular Dancehall and Reggae music we have. But I believe that picking a point from what Ambolley said, inculcating our cultural stuff from Ghana into our Reggae and Dancehall music is an intelligent argument because you can hear me fuse Twi or Ewe in most of the songs that I do; that is trying to inculcate the Ghanaian element into them,” Stonebwoy, currently in Italy, told NEWS-ONE in a telephone interview.
He also stated that Ambolley, a veteran Ghanaian musician is apt in expressing his opinion on music.
“He may also have a reason for saying that. He cannot come out and say anything anyhow because I think he is an elderly person and an elderly musician in Ghana who also can add his opinion when certain things are going on about music.
“Leaving the highlife and hiplife genres, where he belongs, to make a comment about Reggae and Dancehall, I believe that it may not be all perfect or all true. He may have his reasons,” Stonebwoy added.
His statement conforms with what Ambolley called for: “The musicians, who are in that line of music, take more of their beats that come from Jamaica and add their voices to them. I think we need to have an identity. If our brothers from Jamaica who have created that form of music come down here and we are doing the same thing like them, it doesn’t really sit down with me. We need to add some part of our cultural aspect to the style that we’re using in the Reggae and Dancehall music.”
Stonebwoy got nominated in five categories – Dancehall Artiste of the Year, Artiste of the Year, Dancehall Song of the Year, Best Collaboration of the Year and Best Performer of the Year – for the 2014 BASS Awards.
He commended the organizers of the awards for focusing on awarding and rewarding artistes in the Reggae and Dancehall genres.
“For the primary idea of awarding Reggae and Dancehall artiste across Africa and Ghana, it is good because at the end of the day, it focuses on those particular genres to reward or award artistes, who contribute to Reggae and Dancehall in Ghana,” he said.
GHANA : 2014 BASS Awards Nominations Full List
The second edition of the only awards scheme aimed at promoting reggae and dancehall music in Ghana BASS Awards has released a list of nominations for the 2014 edition.
• DANCEHALL ARTISTE(S) OF THE YEAR1) Stonebwoy – Give it to them
2) Shatta Wale – Enter the Net
3) Jupitar – Freaky girl• REGGAE ARTISTE(S) OF THE YEAR
1) Ras Kuuku – Father
2) Blakk Rasta – Iyawata
3) Iwan – Chant a song• BEST ALTERNATIVE REGGAE/DANCEHALL SONG (GOSPEL)
1) Akesse Brempong – Crazy love
2) Nii Soul – Count it all joy
3) Jay Shady – Bestest friend
4) Jael Wiafe – Don’t give up the fight• ARTISTE OF THE YEAR (KWAME NKRUMAH AWARD)
1) Shatta Wale
2) Stonebwoy
3) Jupitar
4) Blakk Rasta
5) Ras Kuuku• DANCEHALL SONG OF THE YEAR
1) Episode – Turn up
2) Fuse ODG – Badder than bad
3) Shatta Wale- Enter the net
4) Stonebwoy – Give it to them
5) Jupitar – Freaky girl• REGGAE SONG OF THE YEAR
1) Buk bak – Mama cry no more
2) Blakk Rasta – Iyawata
3) Iwan – Chant a song
4) Jah Wadada – Loving you
5) Konkarah – Rise
6) Ras Kuuku – Father
7) Tinny – Mi love you
8) Tsidifari – Ghana
9) Gyadu-Blay Ambolley – It doesn’t Matter• BEST COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR (REGGAE)
1) Blakk Rasta/Lami – Iyawata
2) Kiki Jail/Shatta Rako – Me and You
3) Papa Jingo/Jeron Tempo – Yen ye Baako
4) Lingua Kat/Jah Amber – Makooma
5) Ras Kuuku/Norris man – Give thanks• BEST COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR (DANCEHALL)
1) D2/Shatta Wale – Fever
2) Edem/Stonebwoy – Go harder
3) Episode/Edem – Circumstance
4) Method Ranking/Stonebwoy – Wind up
5) Sarkodie/Banky W – Pon di tin
6) Shatta Wale/D Black – Ina the Party
7) Trade Mark /Natural Face – Mi Girl Nie
8) Wiyaala/Jupitar – Rock my body• RECORD OF THE YEAR (YAA ASANTEWAA AWARD)
1) Blakk Rasta – Eager to see Mandela
2) Papa Jingo – Yen ye baako
3) Episode – Mandela
4) Na U – Kudos Ghana.
5) Tsidifari – Ghana• PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
1) Dakay
2) Genius selection
3) Infectious• MUSIC VIDEO F THE YEAR (REGGAE)
1) Na U – Believe in me
2) Konkarah – Rise
3) Ras Kuuku – Father
4) Jon Germain – Still here
5) Blakk Rasta- Iyawata• MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (DANCEHALL)
1) Jupitar – Money Box
2) Shatta Wale – Like my thing
3) Sarkodie/Banky W – Pon di tin
4) Wiyaala/Jupitar – Rock my body
5) Mz Vee – Borkor Borkor• BEST MALE VOCAL ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
1) Buk Bak – Mama cry more
2) Jah ambar – Eye Wunkuaa
3) Luther – Judge not
4) Nature – Chameleon love
5) Tsidifari– Ghana• BEST FEMALE VOCAL ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
1) Mz Vee – Bokor Bokor
2) Wiyaala – Rock my body• LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
1) Samson Quaye (Poncho)
2) Consular Hayes
3) Simple Man Kante• DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR
1) Jah Wyz – My life
2) A K songtress – The Empress
3) Buju Stingo – Badder than them• RIDDIM OF THE YEAR
1) Smirnoff and Guinness riddim
2) Kulcha riddim• BEST PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
1) Shatta Wale
2) Stonebwoy
3) Ras Kuuku
4) Jupitar• ALBUM OF THE YEAR (REGGAE/DANCEHALL)
1) Blakk Rasta – Ancestral Moon Splash• BEST SONG WRITER OF THE YEAR
1) Buk Bak – Mama Cry no more
2) Konkarah – Rise
3) Ras Kuuku – Father
4) Tsidifari – Ghana
5) Ras Bomber – Danqua Circle• BEST AFRICAN ACT OF THE YEAR
1) Wyre
2) Jesse Jagz
3) Alpha Blondy
2014 GMW FESTIVAL KICKS OFF WITH ‘GHANA MUSIC DAY’ ON MARCH 3rd
Fellow musicians and lovers of Ghanaian music;
On behalf of the Musicians Union of Ghana, I wish to draw the attention of our great country to the 2014 GMW Festival, a very important development-oriented event coming off from 3rd March to Saturday, 8th March 2014.GMW Festival is primarily about Education, Arts, Culture, Tourism, Awards and more. It is the official meeting ground for those leading and shaping our industry; bringing together and encouraging participation of artistes, stakeholders, the media, policy makers and music users. GMW seeks to be recognized as the biggest music festival and conferences in Africa within the next 5 years.
In its second year, GMW Festival seeks to help find lasting solutions to the myriads of challenges confronting the music Industry.
We strongly believe that the Union’s relevance should not be reduced to providing only entertainment but creatively engaging to help boost the economic fortunes of Ghanaian musicians and also to support the national development agenda of our great Country. The GMW Festival remains one of the many programs put in place to achieve this goal.
As President of Musiga, I am happy to invite all Ghanaians and the world at large to GMW Festival, which seeks to observe a week by celebrating Ghanaian music and rewarding those who have in diverse ways contributed to its growth and development.Fellow Ghanaians, friends and users of music, although this event is championed by the Musicians Union of Ghana, I wish to state that it is a national project which goes to the very heart of our lives as a nation. You would agree with me that our entire life as a nation finds expression in music. As our great motherland prepares to celebrate its 57th Independence anniversary, I can confidently say that music would be the major driver bringing Ghanaians together into a mood of celebration and merry making.
We the Musicians Union of Ghana believe that to achieve our noble goal of positioning Ghanaian music as the heartbeat of tourism, the theme of the celebration for the next three years, we acknowledge and concede that the total support of all industry players remains paramount in achieving the common goal of helping improve the general Ghanaian music fraternity. We are therefore calling on all our partners in development, especially the media to own GMW Festival by giving space and airtime in promoting and advancing the good cause of the weeklong celebration of Ghanaian Music. For one week, let us put aside all other topics- politics, even sports, and focus on Ghanaian music.
On behalf of Musiga, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts and GIBA, I wish to humbly urge all radio and TV stations in Ghana to dedicate this week (especially, Monday, 3rd of March 2014, which we refer to as Ghana Music Day) to only Ghanaians music.
Let us dedicate this day to honor our hard working musicians who spend sleepless nights in the studio just to ensure that you and I have something to drive whatever mood we find ourselves. This is a passionate and humble appeal we are making and hope we would do this to honor our hardworking musicians.The key highlights of the 2014 GMW FESTIVAL are:
MONDAY, MARCH 3- Ghana Music Day (On the Air)
We begin activities of TUESDAY MARCH 4 with a major Rollcall of Ghanaian musicians at the National Theater at 9am.The Official Opening Ceremony of GMW Festival comes off at the National Theater at 10am on Tuesday.
On the Same day, Tuesday, March 4, at 1pm, we will have our Stakeholders Forum at the National Theater- a review and validation of KPMG’s comprehensive study of the Ghana Music Sector, commissioned by Musiga and Funded by the Government of Ghana. .
Ghana Music Honours 2014 comes off at the National Theater on Wednesday March 5, 2014. An awards show by musicians for musicians, we will honour 15 deserving musicians and personalities in the music Industry.
Join us for quality Live Band Music at +233 Pub on THURSDAY MARCH 6.
We will have a Music BUSINESS Workshop at the British Council at 10am on FRIDAY MARCH 7. The workshop will focus on ways to market and promote Ghanaian music and musicians in this modern era.
SATURDAY MARCH 8 is the GH. ALL-STAR LIVE Concert, which comes off at the Accra Stadium; where we celebrate Ghana’s 57 Independence Anniversary with 57 Ghanaian hits plus two Jamaican Stars.
I would like to thank our key sponsors for sharing in our dream and supporting this project. Airtel Ghana and Accra Breweries Ltd. Also, thanks to Kasapreko, Ashfoam, Fiesta Condoms, Tecno Mobile, Ideal Finance, Goil, Channel O, Eurostar Limousines, Indomie, Traphix Catering, South African Airways and Arik Air.Special thanks to our organizing partners- National Theater, British Council, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, TV3, GH-One, Citi FM and Fantasy Entertainment,
I wish to sincerely thank all Ghanaians especially entertainment review hosts on TV and radio, and writers of entertainment columns for your commitment and dedication to supporting not only the Music industry but the general entertainment industry. Let us work together to make this dream a reality.
Once again I wish to invite all Ghanaians to all our events for the week.
God bless our homeland Ghana.Thank you.
BICE OSEI KUFFOUR
PRESIDENT, MUSICIANS UNION OF GHANA
Who is the “Dancehall King”in Ghana
Heavily inspired by the likes of “Shaba Ranks, Buju Banton, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and many other Jamaican Dancehall superstars.
Dancehall has cemented a place as a strong genre in the Ghanaian music industry. An array of artists have graced the genre in Ghana, over the years we have known a lot of good artists like, “Yoggy Doggy, Soni Bali, Root I, General Marcus, Sammy B, Abrewanana, Mad fish, Batman(Samini), Bandana(Shatta Wale), Screw Face, Stonebowy (Burniton), Atumpan, Kakkie, Shatta Ranko, Episode , Selah Berma (AdiBaritoner) Buddha Man, Dj Buddy and many other more.. But at the end of the day only one deserves the accolade of “King of Dancehall” in Ghana.
Interestingly, the banter of who is the Dancehall King in Ghana stirred up after some recognized artists started their self-glorification of that accolade in their songs. One artist claims he is the African Dancehall King, another says he is the King of Ghana Dancehall and others say they are the best in Ghanaian Dancehall.
Well such self-praise is very much accepted in music. As an artist you can call yourself whatever name and titles are free so you can give yourself any title you want and push that assertion into the minds of your fans.
Let’s us put all the self-glorification aside and try to the name the Dancehall King in Ghana based on industry based criteria such as “ originality, impact on culture and society, awards, longevity, relevance stage presence and influence on the industry.The Dancehall King must possess some originality that makes him and his music distinct and stands out from the rest, because it is these way that makes the artist identifiable. You can’t claim to be the Dancehall King when you have not survived few years of churning out hit songs, gracing high profile stages and having a formidable fan base.
You surely must have gained enough recognition in the industry and genre as a whole. Being the best means you must be able to rock the stage and his performance should drive the crowd berserk and his exit should leave them wanting more and more.
The King must have paved the way for one or two credible performers in the genre, He must have encrypted his name in the books of Ghanaian music. When his name is mentioned he should exude inestimable pioneers and upcoming artists within the industry.SO WHO IS THE “DANCEHALL KING “IN GHANA…?
Big Ups and maximum respect to all Dancehall Artists in Ghana (Africa)
