Music: To award or not to award
Last Tuesday, Showbiz reporter, BAABA CRENTSIL, went to town with a list of top 21 songs of 2013 and randomly asked song enthusiasts to tell which one song, in their opinion, should NOT be considered for a Ghana Music Award.
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The 20 songs were: Million Pound Girl (Badder than Bad) byFuse ODG;
Slowdown - R2bees ft Wizkid; Dancehall King - Shatta Wale; Alkayida - Guru; Odo Pa - Castro ft Kofi Kinata; Adult Musik - Kwabena Kwabena ft Samini; Enter the Net – Shatta Wale; Metanfo - Bisa Kdei ft Nii OD; Latex – Kaakie ft Edem; Tonga- Joey B ft Sarkodie; Give It To Them (Kwenaama) – Stonebwoy; 3 Points – Gasmilla; and Pull Up – Stonebwoy.
The rest were Wasted – Asem; Down On One – Sarkodie ft Fuse ODG; Over – Bisa Kdei; Fever – D2 ft Shatta Wale; Hot Cake – Pop Skinny ft Shatta Wale; Love- R2Bees; Woara – Okyeame Kwame ft Raquel andIlluminati by Sarkodie.
The responses follow.
Emmanual Omari: First and foremost, I don’t like the personality of Shatta Wale and his style of music. I don’t like his Dancehall King song. He claims he is doing dancehall but it is pidgin and English we hear in his music. What he does is not dancehall. Dancehall as we all know, uses Patois and a little of reggae.
Lets take the likes of Mavado, Beenie Man, Gallis, Sean Paul and coming down to our very own, Iwan, Stonebwoy, Kaakie and the big man himself Samini. These are the musicians we can call dancehall artistes. I think it would be best if Dancehall King is not nominated at all.
Sheila Lamptey: When I first heard Tonga by Joey B, I was drawn to the beats until I listened to the lyrics and I was really disappointed. I must admit that the person who made the beat really did well. But when it comes to the lyrics it is way too profane. It should not be aired on radio at all.
Sarkodie featured on this song and his part is even worse than Joey B’s. Sarkodie has been in the music industry for a long time and he should know how to go about the writing of lyrics. From my point of view I think this song should not be nominated for an award.
Kwofi Maclean: I concede that what may sound as good music might sound as noise to another. Naturally, culture is a determining factor of what we term as good music. But I must say that not everyone in the industry deserves an award. If one has listened to Shatta Wale’s Enter The Net critically, I’m sure the person will have no option than to come into an agreement with me that Shatta did not prepare well or his music did not go through proper scrutiny before the final copy was released. So in effect, that song does not deserve recognition at all.
Selina: I think a song that doesn’t merit being nominated for an award is Joey B’s Tonga. I don’t understand why in Ghana inferior songs become hits. Previously, Ghana could boast of timeless music from the likes of A.B Crentsil, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Amakye Dede just to mention a few.
I don’t know whether to blame it on laziness, disrespect for the profession or the advancement in technology. Besides I am sure, other music lovers would have their own list of songs that do not deserve to be air played or be on top and also don’t deserve awards.
Louisa Boadu: I think Tonga should not be nominated for an award. I love the song, no doubt but it’s just indecent. The title alone is just too indecent. As we all know, the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards over the past years does not nominate or even award songs with profanity or indecency. That alone is a good reason that Tonga falls in that category and for that reason shouldn’t win an award.
Prince Tabiri:There is no denying that Tonga is a very nice and popular song. Though the youth love it, I must say that it is not deserving of an award. It contains strong words of profanity and should be categorised among the likes of Linda and Agyeii which were taken off the nomination list in previous years.
Even younger children sing along to Tonga not knowing what it means. If it were left to me it should be X–rated and aired with restrictions.
Ali Khalifa: Well, I think Hot Cake by Pope Skinny ft Shatta Wale should not be awarded. This is because it is not educative in anyway. And the words used in it are not appropriate for public consumption. One can’t relate well with this music as there is no form of advice in it. This song has none of that. What makes it annoying is that the words in the song are repeated so many times. That is too boring. I think Shatta Wale should let us know what he is really about.
Bernard Neequaye: I think Tonga should not be nominated let alone be awarded. This is due to the lyrics and the meaning it puts across. Not only the elderly think this way but some of us, the youth, think that this song is too profane. Music they say is food for the soul and it is meant to impart some form of change into our lives in the best possible way. Rather Tonga does the opposite.
Sally Osei Diko: I must confess I liked Adult Musik by Kwabena Kwabena soon after it was released. But as it enjoyed more radio play, the criticisms began to flow and questions began to be asked about why it was being played so much on air.
Going by the title, my expectation was that even if it was played, it will be done in a way that will cut off child listeners considering its sexual overtones. I think the song should not be entertained for an award because it would motivate other musicians to follow in that same path.