Musician turned politician, Kwame Asare Obeng popularly known as Kwame A Plus has advised dancehall musicians, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy to demand for compensation before accepting to participate in the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) again.
His advice comes on the back of concerns raised by the musicians and some industry players about the VGMAs board’s decision to lift a ban which was imposed on the two dancehall musicians without consulting them.
Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale were banned indefinitely from participating in the VGMAs after an altercation between them marred the 2019 edition of the VGMAs.
But in a press release on February 12, 2021, the board of VGMA announced the lifting of the ban and cautioned the musicians against repeating such an act.
The decision to lift the ban, however, drew criticism from the musicians and some industry players.
While Stonebwoy took to social media to questioned the motive behind the decision, Shatta Wale released a song taking a swipe at the VGMA’s board and organizers of the award scheme.
Speaking on the development on UTV’s United Showbiz, Kwame A Plus stated that the decision to lift the ban is an attempt by the organizers to cash in on the huge following of the two dancehall giants. He said the VGMA’s board and organizers had unjustly banned the duo after failing to implement the necessary security measures that could have averted occurrence of the brawl between them and have only decided to lift it after realizing the gains the duo brings onto the award scheme.
He is, therefore, urging them to demand for payment before considering to partake in the award scheme going forward.
“Charterhouse knew that something like that would happen but because they were so fixated on their gains from the award, they only put in measures to generate income. After their failure led to the brawl, they were not dealt with and they even went ahead to ban the two artistes.
The only reason they are lifting that ban on those two musicians is because of their quest to make more money. Without Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale, their revenue will reduce drastically and so they’re only looking at increasing their revenue. Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale should ask for compensation before participating in the award scheme,” he stated.
