NANAYAW18.COM

So Hip life as a genre is 26years old, did you know?

I was scrolling through my feed on instagram and I came across a post by Reggie Rockstone that said: ‘Hip Life is 26years old’.

For a minute, I thought it was another usual post of grand Papa until I realized he was really serious.

Wait, Reggie Rockstone, did you say Hip life, as a music genre is 26years old, for real?

To begin with let me say, happy 26^th birthday to Hip life in Ghana. We have come a long way as a music industry with that genre.

If the music genre was a human being whether a woman or man by now it should be preparing to settle down, lol.

Any way, we need to ask ourselves as an industry some few questions if Reggie Rockstone’s calculation of hip life is really true.

1. So hip life is 26years and the media did not know? How can the media be always playing a genre called Hip life and they did not even know it was 26years.

2. So hip life is 26years, what happen to the big celebration, the hype, the experiences, and the concerts, the culture and media attention.

3. Hip life is 26 years and we cannot still count even ten songs that are clearly classified as Hip life.

4. Hip life is 26years and we still struggling to define the genre till now.

5. What happened to Musiga putting in measures that will celebrate the Hip lifer artistes of old and now?

I know why there is no buzz about the thing; we don’t have a hip life culture so there is nothing to celebrate.

Also some schools of thought believe that Reggie Rockstone is not the originator of Hip life so he cannot determine when the genre started.

Finally, Hip life has no roots; it has no soul and no direction. If Hip life did have roots, over the years we will not go through a face where people brought in their own genre from ‘Twipop’, Crunk music, GH Hip hop, and so forth just to kick the genre Hip life out.

It is sad that Hip life is 26years old and there was not a single opportunity created for the new generation to know the history of the genre and what it stands for just because we don’t have any history to share.

It’s a shame that we are all part of an industry that does not have anything worth celebrating aside destroying ourselves.

World's bigggest Names in Music for Afro Nation Music Festival in Ghana - 27- 30th December

Ahead of this summer’s sold-out festival taking place in Portugal’s Algarve region, Afro Nation will take the party to the people of Ghana for what promises to be a vibrant celebration of music and culture.  

Bringing together the global African community between 27th and 30th December in Accra, the festival follows the recent news that all tickets for this August’s event in Europe - spearheaded by the likes of Femi Kuti, Davido, WizKid, Burna Boy, Busy Signal, Octavian and many more - remarkably sold out in the space of just 36 hours.  Celebrating all things afrobeats, hip-hop, UK rap, reggae and dancehall, the party on the country’s golden sands will see party goers enjoy celebrations across

Ghana’s sun-soaked coastline, surrounded by beach bars and beautiful lagoons. With the edges of Accra proving a renowned surfers paradise, the gorgeous landscapes pair idyllic laid-back day vibes with raucous evening parties amid the tropical haven.  

With Afro Nation’s African debut set to cement its place as a unique and trailblazing player within the international festival market, more details can be found at www.afronation.com.

Rapper Sarkodie is a step ahead of his colleagues, this is WHY?

For all my years of following Sarkodie and Ghana music in general, I can say that there is something unique about the brand Sarkodie aside just his music.

Michael Owusu Addo popularly known, as Sarkodie is a master of his time because he always knows what to do to go to the next level.

Have you seen the new direction for Sarkodie on social media?

He is more like a Vlogger than a musician and that is the new way to go.

Elsewhere in the world, big names like Will Smith and his wife, P.Diddy, others are cashing in big on video contents by taking advantage of been a celebrity with huge numbers.

Will Smith for sometime now has been producing top video content aside his movies and music for video streaming services such as Youtube and Facebook Watch.

The future of the Internet is video content and the fact that the likes of Facebook and Youtube are providing a payment service system for video content producers, it just makes sense that Sarkodie is in the video content business now.

Sarkodie is not just uploading music videos on Youtube and Facebook watch but he creates other video content that engages his fans on a daily basis. The latter is something you hardly see other artistes do.

Sarkodie's videos also give him a new level of branding. He is continuously increasing his reach, engagements, extending his name and most importantly increasing his top of mind awareness among the new generation.

Think about it, Sarkodie is a decade old in the music business therefore a fraction of the social media generation might not know his old music but with his new love for content, you are sure he will be well known because this new generation is social media driven.

Finally, have you seen the standard chartered bank logo in his videos on social media recently?

That Sarkodie and Standard Chartered bank brand partnership proves that going into video content (not just music videos) full time as an artiste is also another way of racking in revenue from your music both from digital revenue and brand partnerships.

Way to go Sarkodie, I think that many can learn from your direction in order to build in constant money because with digital revenue it only goes up per view on all video content.

If you are an artiste looking for a way to raise revenue, take your video contents serious and I don’t mean music videos only.

"Disregard All Asamoah Gyan Extortion Stories Online Against Entertainment Journalist Osarfo Anthony" – Legal Team

Lawyers for Arts/Entertainment journalist Osarfo Anthony, Dr. Maurice Frank Ampaw and Apanga Lamtiig have advised everyone – both home and abroad to disregard all online stories about their client which sought to implicate him as an extortionist.

Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, Ms. Afia Agbanu Kumador, on Wednesday, 20th March, 2019, acquitted and discharged Arts/Entertainment Writer Osarfo Anthony, and others - Chris Handler (Blogger), Sarah Kwablah (Law Student), and Ekow Micah (Musician) over false allegation of conspiracy to extort money from Black star captain, Asamoah Gyan.

Summary Of Verdict

"PW1 (Asamoah Gyan's manager) together with the police, planned and entrapped A1 (Osarfo Anthony), but he now stands vindicated. A1 did not threat Asamoah Gyan with his publications.

"Since there was no threat, there was no extortion. PW1 paid the money, knowing he will use it against A1. The court also concludes there was no conspiracy to extort money. Prosecution could not establish a prima facia case against A1. The court hereby acquit and discharges A1."

Lawyer’s Remark

‘Osarfo has been innocent from day one. He did not commit the crime and so prosecution had nothing to prove in court against him. I am hereby telling the whole world to disregard, treat with contempt, and never believe in all online stories against him.”

He continued, “Those stories were all malicious publications to defame his hard earned reputation as one of Ghana’s respected and hard working entertainment journalists. Now that he has been acquitted and discharged, I have all the right to sue anyone who may want to refer to him as a criminal, or may use those false allegations to deny him of any opportunity. Thank you.”

Osarfo Anthony’s Words After Verdict

He is happy that the court decision supersedes all media trials. Recounting his three (3) court experience after the verdict, Osarfo Anthony, in an interview with the press, expressed his delight as the court has dropped all charges against him amidst all conspiracy leveled against him in the media.

“But in all of these, it’s the courts that rules on cases and not the media. I am therefore delighted that, I have been vindicated by the court and not by any propaganda. My accusers only rely on media trial; somehow, they were able to win the case even before the court passed judgment,” he said.

“The court is a place for meticulous work in arriving at rulings. Every word counts in court. For us to go through all these for over 3 years, and the court has declared me acquitted and discharged gives me a lot of joy,” he added.

The entertainment journalist, Osarfo Anthony, used the opportunity to urge all who have heard and read the defamatory stories online about him conspiring to extort money from Asamoah Gyan and his manager, Samuel Annim Addo.

“There’s no iota of truth in that allegation. I have never planned such a thing. I am not perfect but anyone who knows me will attest that I, Osarfo Anthony, I am not that kind of person. I have never committed a crime before since I was born. I have never been arrested by the police before. This was the first time in my life that I have been arrested by the police. I have not faced any criminal offence before and this is the first time I have faced something of a sort,” he emphasized.

Background Of Case

Daily Guide newspaper, published a story in June, 2015, which alleged that Sarah Kwablah, a 21-year-old student, wants to blackmail Asamoah Gyan with a sex video involving the two parties. The story caught national attention and was met with mixed beliefs and fraught with several conspiracy theories.

Sarah Kwablah’s side of the story, was however not captured in the publication. According to the paper, though they reached out to her via SMS, she failed to respond at the time of going to press.

Just after the publication, Sarah Kwablah approached Osarfo Anthony – then a writer for online media GHbase.com and gave her side of the story, which had it that, Asamoah Gyan raped and sodomized her which was caught on a CCTV in her house, but Daily Guide twisted the narrative of the story as “consensual sex” (video) to favour Gyan.

Sarah furnished Osarfo with all WhatsApp chats between Gyan and her, still pictures of her bloody naked body after the rape and sodomy she sent to Gyan – which alarmed Gyan, making him apologize for what he did, and Gyan’s WhatsApp voice notes in which he can be heard loud and clear, pleading with the girl not to let anyone see or know about what happened between them.

The site (GHbase.com) investigated and published more revelations on the alleged rape and sodomy story. Asamoah Gyan’s team contacted the site’s Editor, Chris Handler and Osarfo, and pleaded with them to stop the publication.

The same Gyans, later, turned around to accuse Osarfo and 3 others, of conspiring to extort money from Gyan with their publications. Osarfo Anthony, Chris Handler, Sarah Kwablah, and Ekow Micah, were arrested, charged with conspiracy to extort money and arraigned before court.

3Music Awards fueling an innocent Rivalry to promote their awards on 30th March

In 2018 a new award scheme was introduced by a group of young men led by one able music entrepreneur Sadiq Abdullah called 3Music.

The tag for the scheme is “here for the music’ meaning everything about the music was taken inconsideration hence their categorization and calendar is very different from the very popular awards scheme we know.

The 3 Music awards scheme was accepted by the youth because of the inclusion of social media (New media) and fan army categorization.

For once, fans felt part of an awards scheme. As fans we get to be rewarded for supporting an artiste and that feeling was ‘so cool’ to us.

Now, do you recall that surprise opening performance from Stonebwoy at the maiden edition of the show last year?

I was there last year; I felt the energy, the presence and the cheers from all BhimNation fans that were also present at the event.

That opening performance by Stonebwoy is tagged as one of the best yet by any awards scheme, just like that Sarkodie’s opening performance at the 4syteMVAs some years back.

Fast forward to 2019, the 3Music awards is here again and it is happening of the 30^th of March at the same Fantasy Dome and guess what?

Organizers of the event have confirmed Shatta Wale leader of the Shatta Movement as the opening act for the event.

Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy are known to be the two leading rivalry names in Dancehall music now and anything involving these two is taken as a competition by fans. (SM and Bhim Nation)

I was wondering why Shatta Wale was selected as an opening act but then I asked my self, ‘Why not Shatta Wale’?

If an awards scheme was to drive the hype, increase top of mind awareness and talk-ability of the show, what better way to achieve it than to innocently pitch two rivals among themselves by way of performance?

If last year, Stonebwoy was the opening act and he had a very ‘dope’ performance then putting Shatta Wale, as 2019 opening act is a smart move by organizers. They get to start a healthy conversation on ‘whose opening act will be / is more ‘dope’ among two main tagged rivalry fan base in dancehall in Ghana.

In the minds of SM fans, they are coming to witness their king Shatta Wale who they are hoping will have a ‘better’ opening performance than Stonebwoy while BhimNation fans are also coming in their numbers to witness if Shatta Wale can match up to last year’s opening performance by their president Stonebwoy.

The rest of us, are coming to witness a great show and also secretly ‘judge’ whose opening performance was better between these two rivals.

I think innocently, 3Music awards organizers might have jut hit the jackpot for promotion because fans cannot wait for the big night and see who wins the opening act award. lol

The 3Music awards is happening of the 30^th of March 2019, at the Fantasy Dome – (Trade Fair) be there early because Shatta Wale is the opening act.

Dear female Stars: “Don’t loose your Self over Sex Appeal promotion”.

For sometime now I have been monitoring some female artistes in the music industry and their branding.

I must say that it is very interesting to see these young talented female singers and a rapper use the most powerful tool of promotion and marketing, ‘SEX Appeal’ to drive their brand.

Sex sells in showbiz no doubt, it is one ‘fast’ way of getting your brand known, getting talk-ability and also building a quick top of mind awareness.

In Hip Hop a lot of female stars from Rihana, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, among others build their brand on sex appeal and it works perfectly for them.

I have seen some of our young female stars from Sefa, Wendy Shay, Freda Rhymz and Eno Barony using this same method but they don’t look 'super' uncomfortable in doing it.

What I am trying to say is that even though as women, everything they wear will attract people mostly men, these listed names look ‘lost’ every time they are in their artistic mood.

I can see that they really want to drive their music with this style of promotional strategy but they look very uncomfortable doing it.

I can say using their sexuality to drive their music is not their style but looks like they have to do it because that is what management or industry deems it as a fast way in promoting their brand, so they have to go with it and been beautiful women too, works faster.

Ladies, you don’t have to loose yourself in the name of showbiz for one day you will not be relevant; a simple marketing Product life cycle will teach you.

Do what makes you comfortable, do what you love and if your music will connect it will connect with the people.

There are a lot of female singers in the world who do not drive on sex appeal but they’ve had successful music careers.

If by any chance you still want to go with the sex appeal thing, then commit your ways into it fully, do it with all your ability and make sure you are comfortable.

From afar a lot of us can see that you ladies are struggling with the everyday exposure of your beautiful body hence you got to get more comfortable.

Shatta Wale might have set a Trap.

Dancehall artiste Shatta Wale might have just created a trap for us as an industry and this time it might just have caught more fishes.

Shatta Wale is known for creating the best of hit singles from chaos or getting the best of attention in the media from Chaos.

Remember when he was supposedly arrested after misbehaving at the Ghana Music awards some years back.

After that whole confusion came a ‘reign’ of songs and even winning the VGMA artiste of the year at a point. He had hit songs upon hits.

Eventhough he might not be the brand that everyone loves, every time he sets this kind of trap for people they fall for it.

Over the last few days Shatta Wale’s trap might have just caught both Pope Skinny and the VGMA organizers plus board.

After the Pope Skinny fight, Shatta Wale released a photo of himself and the CEO of Chatter Haus - organizers of Ghana Music Awards.

- 9 Nominations at the just announced Ghana Music awards 2019 shows that Shatta Wale gets his win from Chaos.

It is more obvious that we are waiting for another hit record or possibly a big win at the VGMAs this year.

I feel it is time for us to recognize that we don't need to keep falling in the trap of Shatta Wale, even though the industry kinda feels entertained with him in it.

We should stop falling in the Shatta Wale traps and give others the same playing field.

Eventhough a school of thought might say that the other artistes should also create their traps, i want to believe that we are not ready as an industry for what will happen if we keep falling into traps by everyone.

As an industry we also need to encourage artiste doing well with their arts and not interested in creating unnecessary hype to promote their arts.

Shatta Wale Coughed and Pope Skinny fell Sick

Some where in 2013-2014 I had a visit from my two seniors; Cypha and Juwaid concerning a fall out between a certain Shatta Wale and them. The whole fall out was because Shatta Wale stabbed them in the back by stealing their popular nick name “SM” and has refused to change it.

The issue was so huge that it got fans talking, mostly against me(NanaYaw18) because some thought I wanted to destroy someone’s career by bringing the issue out to the media.

The whole Ghana fought for Shatta Wale and so it looked like he was the rightful owner of the brand name SM.

Fast forward to 2016-2017 another Fall out came again, this same Shatta Wale and then Manager BullDog. This fall out was so horrible but once again Ghanaians said Shatta Wale was right against his manager.

In that fall out, Shatta Wale exhibited some childish behavior that got everyone scared. The release of BullDog’s wife's nude pictures and among other revelations that went against Bull Dog.

He (Shatta Wale) even did a diss record mentioning BullDog indirectly; in the midst of all these Ghanaians still said Shatta Wale was right.

Fast forward again to another fall out between Shatta Wale and one Deportee; the latter was vital part of Shatta Wale’s career back when he picked up the fight against SMF, that is, Cypha and Juwaid but today he is no more with Shatta Wale.

Then now 2019, Shatta Wale vrs Pope Skinny; before that fight, there were rumors that he had sacked his management team including his suppose brother Blade.

As for Pope Skinny I think he fell for a cough that was meant to be over looked. Now, two friends turn to enemies destroying themselves on social media, all in the name of what? Showbiz.

The two are forgetting that the internet does not erase anything therefore after 20 years, their kids will grow up to find out what their daddies did when they where young.

So don’t these people know that there are innocent people around them and therefore dragging their name into the mad will only destroy them than help them.

I guess they don’t care, I guess it sounds good to them so far as it does not hurt their ego.

Two adults acting like “fools” disgracing everyone around them including their children.

You guys have kids who go to school everyday; what do you want their mates to say about them?

As for Shatta Wale this only goes to point out that the word “LOYALTY” has a different meaning in your books.
Pope Skinny, you are no different but I think you fell for a cough, don’t catch the code.