Organisers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, Charterhouse, say they are considering the inclusion of Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale in this year’s edition of the scheme.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, the CEO of Charterhouse, Theresa Ayoade said they had received entries from the Dancehall artiste but the board was yet to come to a final decision on whether his works will be included in the final shortlist.
“We are yet to make a final decision regarding Shatta Wale but so far we are accepting his nomination and trying to work things out. Definitely as soon as we are able to come to a consensus, the public will know,” she said.
Shatta Wale and Charterhouse have had a tumultous relationship since 2013 when he accused them of giving the Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year to Kaakie that year.
After well publcised apologies to the events organiser, he won the Artiste of the Year in the 2014 edition but things became stormy again after he insulted Charterhouse and Iyiola Ayoade then CEO of Charterhouse.
He was subsequently sued for GHc10 million that year but settled out of court. Since then, he has never been part of the biggest awards event in Ghana.
Somewhere last year, he started backtracking indicating that he wants to be part of the show and that has culminated in him sending in entries for VGMA 2018.
This year’s edition will come off on Saturday, April 14. Representative of the VGMA board, Nii Ayitey Hammond announced certain changes to the definition of certain award categories most notably the Most Popular Song of The Year category and the The Instrumentalist of the Year category.
According to him, instead of the public solely deciding who wins the Most Popular Song of the Year, the public will rather decide who gets nominated for the award while voting will be split among the public, the Academy and the Board.
This year also, The Instrumentalist of the Year category will be competitive and not honorary like in previous years and a call for submissions or nominations will be opened on www.ghanamusicawards.com from February 10 to 24.
Nii Ayitey Hammond also outlined some activities scheduled before and after the main event.
Among them are a Launch Party scheduled for Friday, March 2 at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra, a Nominees Jam in Cape Coast on Saturday, March 24 followed by a Music Seminar for artistes and industry persons on Thursday, April 12, at the Accra International Conference Centre.
A Celebration Jam for eventual winners and nominees comes off on Saturday, April 28 in Tema.
Source : graphic.com.gh
