Ebony, Shatta Wale, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy and Joe Mettle have been nominated in the Artiste of the Year category.

See the full list of nominees below:

Artiste of the Year

Joe Mettle

Ebony

Shatta Wale

Sarkodie

Stonebwoy

Song of the Year

Sponsor – Ebony

Odo – Kidi

Angela – Kuami Eugene

Taking Over- Shatta Wale ft. SM Militants

Total Cheat – Fancy Gadam ft. Sarkodie

Bronya – Wutah

One Corner – Patapaa ft. Ras Cann

Bo Noo Ni – Joe Mettle ft. Luigi Maclean

Obi Agye Obi Girl – Captain Planet ft. Kofi Kinaata

My Baby – Magnom ft. Joey B

Oh Yea – King Promise

Pain Killer – Sarkodie ft. Runtown

Highlife Song Of the year

Dream – Kumi Guitar

Bronya – Wutah

Odo – Kidi

Angela – Kuami Eugene

Over – R2bees

Hustle – Ebony

Gospel Song Of The Year

Boot 4 Boot – Joyce Blessing

Obi Nyanime – Patience Nyarko

Efatawo – Nacee

Adom – Gifty Osei

Jehovah – Ceccy Twum

Hiplife song of the year

Total Cheat – Fancy Gadam ft. Sarkodie

Boys Boys – Nacee F. Guru

Obi Agye Obi Girl – Captain Planet ft. Kofi Kinataa

Ayoo – Shatta Walle

One Corner – Patapaa

Hip Pop Song of the Year:

State Of The Art – Teephlow

Light It Up – Sarkodie

Grind Day Remix – Kwesi Arthur

Pen and Paper – Kojo Cue & Shaker

Dear God—B4Bonah

Reggae/Dancehall Song of The Year

Until The Dawn – Efya

My Own – Samini

My Name – Stonebwoy

Maya Burn Dem – Article Wan

Rewind – Mzvee

Dem Confuse – Shatta Wale

Afro Pop Song of the Year

Makoma – Adina

Oh Yeah – King Promise

Say You Love Me – Kidi

Sing My Name – Mzvee

Jennifer Lomotey – Kurl Songz

Sponsor – Ebony

My Baby – Magnom

Come From Afar – Stonebwoy

Gospel Artiste of the Year

Joyce Blessing

Patience Nyarko

Joe Mettle

Celestine Donkor

Nacee

Gifty Osei

HighLife Artiste of the Year

Wutah

Kidi

Kuami Eugene

Becca

Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year

Shatta Wale

Ebony

Stonebwoy

Mzvee

Songwriter of the Year

Kumi Guitar – Dream

Joe Mettle – Bo Noo Ni

Bullet – Maame Hwe

Kofi Kinaata – Last Show

Samini – My Own

Stonebwoy – My Name

Best Music Video of the Year

Dream (Kumi Guitar) – Abass

Selfish (King Promise) – Vertex

My Girl (B4Bonah) – Nicol Sey

Wedding Car (Opanka) – Bra Shizzle

Obi Agyi Obi Girl(Captain Planet) – Gyo

Pen & Paper-Kojo Cue & Shaker – E Kumodzi

Record of the Year

Dream – Kumi Guitar

My Own – Samini

Glory – Sarkodie

State Of The Art – Teephlow

Hiplife/hiphop Artiste of the Year

Ponobiom

R2bees

Captain Planet

Kwesi Arthur

Sarkodie

VVIP

Best Male Vocal Performance

Joe Mettle – Bo Noo Ni

King Promise – Selfish

Kidi – Odo

Kuami Eugene – Angela

Mugeez – Over

Samini – My Own

Best Female Vocal Performance

Adina-Makoma

Nana Yaa-Don’t Leave Me Alone

Efya- Love

Mzvee-Bright Lights

Becca-Summuye

Best Group of the Year

VVIP

R2bees

Wutah

Best Rapper of the year

Eno Barony- Fear No Man

Teflon—Phlowducation

Sarkodie— Light It Up

Shaker— Pen and Paper

Ko-jo Cue-Pen and Paper

Strongman — Transformer

Best collaboration of the year

Bo Noo Ni— Joe Mettle Ft Luigi Maclean

Sing My Name Remix— Mzvee Ft Patoranking

Jennifer Lomotey— Kurl Songs ft Sarkodie

Pain Killer— Sarkodie ft Runtown

Taking Over— Shatta Wale Ft S.M Militants

Obi Agye Obi Girl— Captain Planet ft Kofi Kinata

Na Wash— Becca ft Patoranking

African Artiste of the year

Davido

Wizkid

Too Fan

Cassper Nyovest

Nasty C

Tiwa Savage

Olamide

Best New Artiste of the year

King Promise

Kurl Songz

Kidi

Kuami Eugege

Magnom

Kwesi Arthur

B4Bonah

There shall also be honorary awards for Traditional Artiste of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and Instrumentalist of the Year.

Vodafone Music Awards will be held on 14th April, 2018 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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One of these is the change in name and voting pattern for the Most Popular Song of the Year category. That category is now known as ‘Song of the Year.’

In the past years, the power to choose the song of the year was the preserve of the general public. The public nominated and voted for nominees in the category.

The previous definition states: “the Most Popular Song of the Year is the songs adjudged 100% by the General Public as the most popular song released in the year under review, irrespective of genre. The song must have enjoyed a lot of patronage and generated the most excitement during the year.”

However, in the new definition, the Board has 30% voting power, the Academy 30% and the remainder 40% is reserved for the general public.

“The Song of the Year is the song nominated SOLELY BY THE PUBLIC and adjudged by Academy, Board and General Public as the most popular song released in the year under review. The song must have enjoyed a lot of patronage and generated the most excitement during the year.”

Last year, ‘Christie’ by Dobble won the Most Popular Song of the Year award. This year, most entertainment pundits have tipped Ebony’s ‘Poison,’ Joe Mettle’s ‘Bo Noo Ni’ and ‘Kuami Eugene’s ‘Angela’ as potential nominees.

Others are ‘Odo’ by Kidi, ‘One Corner’ by Patapaa, Shatta Wale’s ‘Taking Over’ and ‘Bronya’ by Wutah.

Already, entries for nominations have closed and the 2018 edition of the VGMA I expected to be launched on 2^nd March, 2018 at the Movempick Hotel in Accra. After that there will be a nominees’ jam in Cape Coast.

The 2018 VGMAs is scheduled for 14^th April, 2018 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

See other changes in other category definitions below:

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The move replaces the usual “Red Room” spectacle that engages its high-end customers before the start of the show.

The “Red Lounge” will be a unique display set-up at the foyer of the event venue to provide a multi-sensory experience for all customers and stakeholders. The set-up will also provide an opportunity for patrons of the event to interact with artistes on a personal level before the show begins.

Patricia Obo-Nai, Acting Sales and Marketing Director at Vodafone Ghana said:

“The focus is to ensure everyone enjoys the very best of what the event has to offer. The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is the most anticipated programme on Ghana’s entertainment calendar and we consider it our responsibility to make it worthwhile. Our commitment to creating an enabling environment for the growth of music is unquestionable. One of the ways we do this is to recognize, reward and encourage the people who are devoting themselves to creating music in one form or another, through the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.”

Vodafone’s association with the Music Awards dates back to 2012 and has since blossomed into a fruitful partnership; delivering world-class music and entertainment experiences to Ghanaians.

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Source: VGMA

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Paapa Yankson passed away few months after he had been honoured at the 2017 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is a category in the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) which honours veteran musicians who have paid their dues in the music industry. The winner is chosen in consultation with the Musicians Union of Ghana.

Ace highlife artiste, Nana Kwame Ampadu, Ebo Taylor and a number of great aged musicians have picked up this award before. All of these musicians cannot be awarded at the same time but honestly, some deserve to have been awarded long ago.

This year, I suggest to the organisers of VGMA to give that award to Elder Emmanuel Kwasi Mireku. Mind you, I am not in any way implying, per my preamble, that the gospel giant would be dying soon. However, I think Elder Mireku winning the VGMA Lifetime Achievement Award is long overdue.

In times past, arts writers Arnold Asamoah-Baidoo, Osarfo Anthony and other entertainment critics had also mooted that Elder Mireku be given honourary award by the VGMA or the Legends &Legacy Ball. But it appears all the talk did not yield any results.

Elder Mireku, who has been in the gospel music ministry for the past 40 years with more than 40 volumes (albums) of songs, has contributed immensely to the gospel music industry.

His songs are sang in almost every church in Ghana – most of which have been sampled by other artistes without permission. Elder Mireku has influenced musicians like Kwaku Gyasi, Frank Asomadu and many others. Their style of singing clearly tells they took inspiration from Elder Mireku.

The Pentecost Elder by all standards is a legend that needs to be celebrated now! Gospel musicians also deserve to win Lifetime Achievement award.

He has songs such as ‘Aduru Wo So,’ ‘Adom Aye Wonsa Ma,’ ‘Maranatha’ and ‘Wose Ayeyi.

Listen to some of Elder Mireku’s worship songs in the link below:

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Kwame Dadzie writes: VGMA should award Elder Mireku this year [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Sony Achiba has declared his intention to go on demonstration if Charter House, the organisers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards do not reinstate dance hall artiste Shatta Wale into the award scheme.

In an exclusive interview with ‘Celebrity Radar’ on Citi 97.3 FM from his United Kingdom base, the ‘Onipa Boniayefuor’ hit maker said it was time Charter House settled their differences with the ‘dance hall king.’

“Tell Charter House to sit down with Shatta Wale and resolve the problem, because this is not personal music awards. This is Ghana Music Awards. I’ve never heard anywhere in the world when we have music that is trending, you can’t kick the artiste out because you have a personal problem with him,” he said.

Sony also added that what the organisers have done is not professional and that if they don’t change their mind, he will go on demonstration against them.

“Maybe I have to do one month demonstration against them. What they are doing is very bad. I say I will go on one month demonstration against them,” he told ‘Celebrity Radar.’

Shatta Wale was ‘banned’ from the VGMA in 2014 after making disparaging statements about the organisers of the award.

Few months ago he said in a penitent tone on GH One television that he was ready to go through the process to resolve his issues with the organisers of the VGMA and added he had mature from some the mistakes he had made in the past.

Currently, the issue of defamation against the organisers of the award scheme, is still in court.

Shatta Wale currently had hit songs like ‘Ayoo,’ ‘Taking Over,’ ‘Forgetti,’ ‘Slow Tempo,’ and ‘Hosanna.’

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the ‘Onwanwani’ hits maker, a lot of people have shown love and support to him by soliciting votes for him and judging from that, his hard work and the grace of God, he is strongly optimistic of picking the award tomorrow.

“By God’s grace I have had people, some of whom I don’t even know, campaign for votes for me. We have done our best. It’s left with the Academy and Board to decide but I am 100% hopeful of winning,” he said.

Asked which of the nominees in the Artiste o the Year category poses a stiffer competition to him, he said: “I believe once you are nominated, you stand a chance of winning so any of them a potential winner,” he told Citi Showbiz.

Not long ago, Joe Mettle was reported to have said in an interview that gospel musicians don’t do win the Artiste of the Year at the VGMA because they see campaigning of awards as materialistic.

This comes on the back of discussions on why no gospel musician has won the ultimate award at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards since its inception. A myriad of factors have been adduced as reasons to the situation, paramount among which are apathy, poor management, lacklustre branding, VGMA board bias, and Christian doctrinal constrictions.

Joe Mettle has been nominated in the Artiste of the Year category together with Medikal, Stonebwoy, MzVee, Sarkodie and E.L.

Joe Mettle, a former lead singer of the Soul Winners gospel music group, has since he went solo produced mega hits like ‘Akokyem Nyame,’ ‘Medo Wo,’ ‘Ayeyi Nnwom,’ ‘Jehovah Praise,’ the current banger ‘Onwanwani,’ among others.

He’s won awards like Best Male Vocalist, Best Song writer, Best Video at 2012 Gospel Industry Awards; Alternative Song of the Year at 2012 Bass Awards; Best Male Artiste at 2016 RIGA Awards in South Africa, Best Vocal Performance at the 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and has also earned multiple nominations in both local and international award schemes.

The 2017 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards comes off tomorrow, 8th April, 2017 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

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By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Joe Mettle hopeful of winning VGMA Artiste of the Year appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The closest they have ever come to winning the prize, is to get nominated and, as usual, there is one Gospel artiste nominated in this year’s Artiste of the Year category for the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards – Joe Mettle.

This year, I have seen fans and supporters of Joe Mettle do some serious campaigning for him to win the category in which he has been nominated alongside EL, Sarkodie, Medikal, Stonebwoy and MzVee. It appears that the supporters are bent on breaking the jinx this year, but there is a problem; There is much more to winning any award, than ‘last minute’ vote begging.

Before I touch on the crux of this subject, I invite you to read an excerpt of an article which I wrote in 2016, about why Ghanaian Gospel musicians can’t rub shoulders with their secular counterparts. It is titled ‘The Ghanaian Gospel Artiste is Confused.’

“…I was analysing on my entertainment show Arts and People on Vision FM the [apparent] gulf between Gospel musicians and their secular counterparts when it comes to image branding, promotional strategies and ambassadorial deals.

So I called celebrated musician and recording engineer Nacee, the leader of the No Tribe Gospel music group. One thing he told me that still remains fresh in my mind is that Gospel music is a ministry and that Gospel musicians cannot and should not do everything that the secular artistes do. He told me that they were not in competition with the secular artistes. To an extent, he had a point – yes but to what extent is going to be the fulcrum of my subject.

For so many years, the Ghanaian Gospel musician has been compared to the secular musician on various pedestals; from their dressing, to music videos, lyrical content, management efficiency, promotional strategies, among other factors.

Ghanaian Gospel music lovers and their critics have bashed Gospel musicians for always standing by flowers and cars and using prosaic concepts for their music videos. You listen to radio and television entertainment discussion programmes and our Gospel musicians are always being criticised.

Even today, these same Ghanaians mock some of our Gospel musicians for displaying a fashion sense that is below par. They would say they lack swag and do not make Gospel music appealing. Again, the Ghanaian Gospel musician has been lashed for not employing the right people to manage him or her. Most of the time, it is their husbands or wives that have either been their managers and/ or producers. Most of these husbands and wives, however, have little or no knowledge of music and artiste management.

A corollary of this has been weak promotional links. They lack the right avenues to promote their brands. They lack internet, and for that matter, social media presence. They also lack knowledge of how to market their songs and brands online. It is all about recording their songs, releasing few copies of CDs and getting a few ‘God bless you’ gigs to play at some rural Churches; after all they say it is a ministry.

Because of this, the Gospel musicians usually don’t get to enjoy some of the opportunities that the secular people do. There have been times when some Gospel musicians have complained that their secular counterparts had been paid better and had been given better treatment at shows, which they both performed at. A case in point is one that Gifty Osei made during the first Ghana Music Week, where she thought the Gospel acts were not treated fairly.

Corporate institutions sign secular artistes and other celebrities as their brand ambassadors and you hardly see a Gospel act, in this respect. Secular musicians get nominated in international award schemes and you usually see a Gospel act nominated if it is primarily a Gospel awards scheme. This happens because the Ghanaian Gospel musician wants to be seen as a mere evangelist; well at least the people want them to.

Sadly, these same fans of the Gospel musicians who even wish that he or she would play shows for free, because the Bible is free and their music talent was given freely by God, criticise them, saying that they are not making great strides.

In fact, the Ghanaian Gospel music lover, enthusiast, pundit and analyst have confused our Gospel musicians.
Firstly, the new generation of Gospel musicians who have learnt from the criticism against their older folks, have decided to do things differently. Some are waxing very fashionable and again the typical Ghanaian is complaining. So what should they do now? Gifty Osei customised her car and people were insulting her. What kind of behaviour is that? Yet we want them to be at par with their secular colleagues.

Number two – the same people who had said gospel music videos were raw and unattractive are describing the new and improved ones of modern times as worldly. We say they are not visible on social media; so a few of them have started making themselves visible. Some have adopted some strategies used by their secular friends, and again we say “Gospel musicians should not do that.” So what should a Gospel musician do?

I remember some years ago, some people were encouraging Gospel – secular collaborations. A few people like Lady Prempeh and Herty Borngreat started. Even though their songs were accepted, there were people who thought ‘light’ and ‘darkness’ had no relationship. But they were the same people who had suggested that a bit of rap could make Gospel music more appealing to the youth.

I know there are extremities in life and I know such situations when I see them. The Ghanaian Gospel artiste is in a quandary of what to do, lest they are mauled by the general public. In fact, this is killing creativity and the promotion of the Gospel music genre…”

The article above is a reflection of how the average Ghanaian sees the Gospel artiste. Recently, Gospel musician Joe Mettle was quoted to have said that Gospel musicians don’t canvass votes for awards, because they see it as materialistic. Even though this was his opinion, it is a view widely held by the Ghanaian populace.

The notion that Gospel musicians are ‘holy’ and must not worry themselves of certain ‘worldly’ acts is the reason they can never have certain opportunities in the music industry. So you see why Gospel musicians can’t win Artiste of the Year at the VGMAs? You see why Joe Mettle can’t beat Sarkodie, EL, Stonebwoy, Mzvee, Medikal to win the slot?

The category definition of VGMA Artiste of the Year states that: “Artiste of the Year is the Artiste(s) adjudged by the Academy, Board and the General Public as the Artiste(s) with the highest audience appeal and popularity. The Artiste(s) must have released a hit single/album during the year under review.”

This definition has three basic components: audience appeal, popularity and hit single/album. There are a lot of things that secular musicians do to pass these requirements that most Gospel musicians do not do. For example, we have very few Gospel musicians who would organise their own concerts. Most of them are only interested in ‘shabo.’ It is not wrong to perform in Churches because that is what your ministry entails, but you must also be easily identified with something, so why don’t you create a formidable brand and that makes your popularity solid! That is a major platform, upon which to measure your audience appeal.

There are a lot of Gospel musicians who have very low presence and interactivity on social media. Some Gospel musicians have smash hit songs but nobody knows them. Their image visibility ebbs low.

Unlike the secular world where an artiste can create stunts to stay relevant in the system, Gospel music is quite restrictive. Last year, hell nearly broke loose on Brother Sammy when he was alleged to have feigned an accident, for publicity. While secular artistes are ‘dissing’ each other to court attention, the only stunt the Gospel artiste can pull is perhaps to say “Jesus is coming tomorrow.”

Lastly, since the Board has a 30% stake in determining who wins what, we can’t rule them out in the equation. My research has revealed that a majority of the members on the VGMA Board are not Gospel lovers. In fact, most of them are not even fans of Gospel music. There is therefore a justification to their proclivity for rooting for a secular song at the expense of Gospel songs and their artistes (in this wise).

These, among a blizzard of factors have contributed to the imbalance in the brand visibility between Gospel and secular artistes, hence the slimmer chance for a Gospel artiste to win Artiste of the Year at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.

This, however, does not mean Gospel musicians are not good. It rather means that the Gospel musicians find themselves in a secularised environment where anything done the secular way sells faster. It is either to conform or to play second fiddle to secularism.

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By: Kwame Dadzie – [email protected]

The post Why a Gospel musician may never win VGMA Artiste of the Year award [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.