Two previous winners of the Ghana Music Awards ‘Artiste of the Year’ accolade Sarkodie and Okyeame Kwame have topped the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012 nominations list.
Sarkodie, who is touted as the country’s fastest rapper grabbed 11 nominations to top the list with his ‘Rapperholic’ album, following closely, is the rap doctor Okyeame Kwame with 9 nominations with ‘The Clinic’ album. New entrant Stay Jay grabbed 7 nominations with his album ‘The Repetition’.
Sarkodie who swept 5 awards with 8 nominations at the 2010 edition of the awards with his ‘Makye’ album was nominated in the following categories ‘Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife Song of the Year’, ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’, ‘Hip Hop Song Of The Year’, ‘Best Rapper of the year’ and ‘Song Writer Of The Year’.
He obtained 3 nominations in the ‘Best Collaboration of the Year’ category with ‘You Go Kill Me’ and ‘I’m In Love With You’ featuring EL and Efya respectively. Also his feature on Raquel’s ‘Sweetieo’ track also earned them a nomination.
Rapper Okyeame Kwame, who achieved similar feat as Sarkodie in 2009 awards was the second highest nominee with the following categories ‘Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year’, ‘Best Collaboration Of The Year’, ‘Hiplife Song of the Year’, ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’, ‘Best Music Video Of The Year’, ‘Best Rapper of the year’, ‘Song Writer Of The Year’ and ‘Record Of The Year.
The two previous winners were both nominated in almost all the categories except the ‘Best Music Video of the Year’, which Sarkodie failed to grab a nomination. However, what differentiated the two was Sarkodie’s triple nominations in the ‘Best Collaboration’ which edged him away from Okyeame Kwame in terms of who tops the overall nominations.
Stay Jay of ‘Shashe Wowo’ fame was the third highest nominee with 7 nominations. The nominees were released to the Ghanaian media today at the studios of GhONE Television. This year the winner of the ‘Artiste of the Year’ goes home with GHC10.000.
The award is slated for Saturday, April 14 at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre.
Below is the full list of nominations:
Artiste(s) of the Year Becca Okyeame Kwame Sarkodie Efya R2Bees 4×4 Kwaw Kesse
Hiplife/HipHop Artiste(s) of the Year Stay Jay Okyeame Kwame 4×4 Sarkodie D-Cryme Kwaw Kese R2Bees
Highlife Artiste(s) of the Year Daddy Lumba K.K. Fosu Kwabena Kwabena Kwasie Pee George Darko Lucky Mensah
Gospel Artiste(s) of the Year DSP Kofi Sarpong Gifty Osei Philipa Baafi Lady Prempeh Bernice Ansah Selina Boateng
Best New Artiste(s) of The Year Atumpan Racquel Stay Jay D-Cryme EL Zigi
Best Collaboration Of The Year Trigmatic/Raquel – Aageii Fuse ODG / Tiffany – Azonto Raquel/Sarkodie – Sweetieo Eduwordzi/Stay Jay – Yenko Nkoa Okyeame Kwame/Bertha – Faithful Sarkodie/ EL – You Go Kill Me Sarkodie/Efya – I’m In Love With You
African Artiste(S) Of The Year (Non Ghanaian) Naeto C Duncan Mighty Ice Prince D’banj Cabo Snoop Wizkid
Hiplife Song of the Year Stay Jay – Shashee Wowo Eduwordzi – Yenko Nkoa 4×4 – Yesi Yesii Keche – Sorkode Sarkodie – U Go Kill Me Okyeame Kwame - Faithful Buk Bak – Kolom D-Cryme – Kill Me Shy
Highlife Song of the Year George Darko – Lucky Star Lucky Mensah – Nkratuor Kwabena Maphia – I Go Pay Daddy Lumba Ko – Hye Po Kwabena Kwabena – Be Gye Me K. K Fosu –Akoma
Most Popular Song of the Year 4×4 – Yesi Yesii Stay Jay – Shashee Wowo Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho D-Cryme – Kill Me Shy Sarkodie – U go Kill Me Zigi – You Say Wetin Atumpan – The Thing Okyeame Kwame – Faithful
Afro-Pop Song Of The Year Ruff N Smooth – Beautiful Becca – African Woman Fuse ODG – Azonto Zigi – U Say Wey Tin Atumpan – The Thing Raquel – Sweetieo Chase – Tell Me Your Name
Hip Hop Song Of The Year Bra Kevin – Three Headed Beast D-Black – My Kind Of Girl Sarkodie – I’m In Love With You Edem – Too Much Guru – Mmaakuo Kwaw Kese - Poppin
Gospel Song Of The Year Lady Prempeh – Nsantaban Gifty Osei – Fefeefe Philipa Baafi – Dea Eba Wosem Afe Yi Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho Jake Alolome – Tomorrow By This Time DSP Kofi Sarpong – African Borborbo Bernice Ansah – Final Say
Reggae Song of the Year Blakk Rasta – Miss Right Sonni balli – All They See Edem – Ghetto Arise Kesse – Oh Yes Stonebwoy – Climax Jupiter/Trigmatic – Uptown Downtown
Group of the Year R2Bees Buk Bak Keche Ruff ‘N’ Smooth 4×4
Industry Awards:
Album Of The Year Sarkodie – Rapperholic Kwaw Kese – Untold Stories 4×4 – Waist And Power Stay Jay – Repetition Trigmatic – Solutions Selina Boateng – Menko Me Ho
Best Male Vocal Artiste Kesse – Oh Yes Fritz -Me Dowu KK Fosu – Akoma Kwasey Pee – Shwe Ahenie Chemphe – Number One Kwame Adinkra – Abena Dansoaa
Best Female Vocal Artiste Efya – I’m In Love With You Raquel – Odo Bertha – Faithful Becca – African Woman Irene Logan Light – Darkness Diana Antwi Hamilton – Eye Wo Ara
Best Music Video Of The Year Becca – African Woman – Davis Media Group 4×4 – Yesi Yesii – Phamous People DBlack – My Kind Of Girl – Jonathan Olamide & Desmond Blackmore Mensah – No One Knows – Sam A Kessie Bra Kevin – 3 Headed Beast – Nana Asihene Sheriffa Gunu – Mrantie – Phamous Films Production Okyeame Kwame – Faithful – Ohene Media
Best Rapper Of The Year Manifest – Ghana Must Go Sarkodie – U Go Kill Me Okyeame Kwame – Faithful Edem – Legacy Trigmatic – Light And Darkness EL – Obuu Mo
Song Writer Of The Year Okyeame Kwame – Faithful – Kwame Nsiah Apau DCryme – Kill Me Shy – Darlington Agyekum Mensah – Fante Love Song – Mensa Ansah Manifest/Efya - Asa – Kwame Tsikata /Jane Awindor/ J.Karp Sarkodie/ Efya – I’m In Love With You – Micheal Owusu Addo / Jane Awindor Becca – African Woman - Kiki Banson Trigmatic – Light And Darkness – Nana Yaw Oduro, Irene Logan
Record Of The Year Okyeame Kwame – Faithful Jayso/Adina – Music Mensah – Fante Love Song Trigmatic/Irene – Light and Darkness Sarkodie – I’m In Love With You Kwame Adinkra – Akua Dansoa Yaa Pono – Good Morning
Gospel Album Of The Year Philipa Baafi – Dea Eba Wosem Afe Yi Selina Boateng – Me Nku Me Ho Bernice Ansah – Gbenze Gbenze Lady Prempeh – Ne Ntaban Diana Antwi Hamilton – Blessings Skuul Fuo – Chapter One Gifty Osei – Fefee
Yesterday at the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303 launch in Accra, Eazzy of Lynx Entertainment fame rocked the stage to the excitement of the crowd…Check out the photosGhanaCelebrities.Com captured during her performance. Love the shoes!
In a bid to continually deliver unmatched mobile experience to its teeming customers, Nokia the World’s leading mobile phone manufacturer has unveiled the Asha range of products into the Ghanaian market. The launch event which took place at the Silver Star Tower in Accra saw the official introduction of the Nokia Asha 201 and Nokia Asha 303 into the Ghanaian market.
Nokia asha phones are messaging devices produced with full QWERTY keypad for quick and easy text input yet quite affordable. The Asha range is available at the very affordable prize of mobile phones but imbued with the distinct features of smart phones.
General Manager in charge of Sales for Nokia Nigeria, Mr. Chris Brown said consumers can now send text messages, emails and chats with their friends with added speed advantage of the QWERTY keypad. They can also view their friends status updates and tweet right there on their home screen and download thousands of free applications from their proprietary Nokia store.
On his part, Nokia’s Operator Account manager, Kolawole Osinomo said “Asha means hope and “we see the next generation as one that is bound to be connected beyond calls and text messaging. Thus, we are launching an ambition and not devices.” He explained that this was why leading operator MTN decided to partner Nokia to provide free one-month internet access to Nokia faithful in Ghana who purchase the device. Mr. Osinowo said further that Nokia Asha was consistent with the company’s tradition of always churning out devices that suit consumer needs.
He stated, “We are making phones that give users a great experience and in Asha 201 and 303, we are giving young people devices that are trendy and packed with lots of exciting applications.
He explained further that besides carrying QWERTY pad, Asha 201 and 303 also gives users access to the Nokia store, where thousands of applications can be download; and what more, internet access is free for one money – thanks to MTN.
Nokia Asha 201 comes with fully integrated social networks to make consumers stay connected to friends and networks via Nimbuzzz, Facebook chats and more. It also has high performance loudspeakers to enable consumers share favourite music with friends and support for up to 32G with a microSD memory card. The Nokia Asha 303 comes with all tools on the homescreen, meaning consumers can view their friend’s updates and tweet right there. It also comes with touchscreen capabilities to enable consumers navigate their phone as well as play games on the sleek touchscreen. Nokia Asha 303 has the Nokia Browser that gives consumers faster and more cost effective web browsing experience. The Nokia Browser compresses consumer data by up to 90% which means consumers can spend less money and less time surfing the internet via data.
Controversial movie maker and C.E.O. of Movie Africa Productions, Socrate Safo has called on institutions responsible for championing the interest of Ghanaian musicians to think of a punishment for any musician established to be using drugs.
The movie maker made the statement as part of his contribution on Entertainment Review on Peace FM. His comment was related to the issue of musician Akosua Agyepong’s promise of stopping Efya who has confessed to the Ghanaian media that, she is not into drugs but rather smokes cigarette.
His other panel members didn’t take it lightly with him for that assertion but he kept stressing that “I’m responsible” to support his call.
Songstress Efya’s name has been on the lips of many Ghanaians after the death of British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse who according to reports died of drug overdose and more recently after the death of American artist, actress, producer and model Whitney Houston, who until her death was battling with drugs. The dynamic Efya in an interview denied usage of drugs, except smoking, “I don’t use narcotics before my performance, after my performance, through my performance and during the day. I don’t do drugs, me, my name is E-F-Y-A and I do not do drugs.”
“I don’t know why people say I do drugs; nobody out there who has said that I do drugs has ever seen me do it. I can swear down and tell you that because I don’t do drugs. I smoke cigarettes, I do that you see me doing it when I’m out it’s my thing but nobody can judge me on that but the thing is I don’t do drugs.”
The fact that, Efya admitted she smokes cigarette has also been a major issue for discussions on various media platforms with the gospel musician coming up publicly in one of the discussions that she’s ready to advice her to quit smoking.
When GhanaCelebrities.Com contacted Socrate Safo, he said, a ban should be imposed on any musician found culpable of using narcotics. He said using banning as a tool to prevent musicians from using drugs as is done in sports will do the trick. He conceded that would not entirely curtail the usage of drugs.
In buttressing his point, he said if in sporting activities, an athlete is found culpable of ‘doping’, commonly referred as the ‘use of performance enhancing drugs’ and banned for number of years, then its high time similar posture was adopted in Ghana to use as a deterrent to others.
He said if a musician who uses narcotics churns out hits after hits and its being played on radio and promoted on TV, it sends a strong message to the musician that, he or she can continue to use the narcotics and still get his stuff patronised and get awarded for that.
He argued that if such stiffer stance was taken and a musician banned for like a year by MUSIGA, that would help to curtail the use of drugs among musicians.
On the issue of evidence of drug usage by any musician, Socrate said if a mechanism is put in place, musician who peddles in narcotics would be known and busted. He ended by saying Ghanaians should stop the hypocrisy and address the issue concerning narcotics usage.
Season 2 of game show, ‘It Runs in the Family’ is set to premiere 1st March on Viasat 1. The game show is the channel’s 5th Own Produced program after The One Show; the UEFA Champions League Studio discussion, Laugh a Minute and the Viasat 1 News. The show which made its debut in September 2011 is produced by Viasat 1’s sister company Modern African Productions (MAP) and hosted by stand up comedian Derrick Kwabena Boateng AKA DKB or Madam Kpelems.
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY is a family oriented game show. The game play sees two families go head to head and compete to win a grand prize. The families consist of two males and two females between the ages of 15 and 50+. Players are asked to guess responses given by a street survey.
There are three rounds, each of which sees one player from each team eliminated leaving one only from both families, to compete for the grand prize in the final round. Individual prizes are awarded to high scoring players.
This season will see the introduction of new tweaks including 1) GHANA, MY MOTHERLAND: The questions are created to TEST your knowledge on questions specific to Ghana. The focus is on Ghanaian history, geography, government, politics, social, film, music, dance, agriculture, nature etc. The Family must nominate their “weakest link” 2) LYRICS & SONGS: The family comes together to decide who in their family knows the most about music! That representative must then choose 1 song in the list on the screen. Then they must sing along till the music STOPS! At that point, they must guess WHICH WORD COMES NEXT? In this round, Family A must eliminate someone in Family B! 3) WORDGAMES: The families are given 1 letter…. The have 1 minute to come up with as many words as possible! 4) THE GRAND ELMININATOR: A grand finale which not only tests the finalists’ ability to beat their opponent, but is a battle of wills with a variety of tasks outlined to be uncovered one level after another! In this round there are 3 challenges for the last man standing in the family: • Level 1: Spot the Difference • Level 2: Spell this word correctly • Level 3: Arrange according to Street Survey 5) SAY WHAT? – In this short spot JUST FOR LAUGHS; our funny host DKB asks people what they think a specific word means!! DKB’S task is to find only the silliest definitions!!! The show is interactive and allows audiences to participate in the game. Viewers also win by guessing responses. The quickest with the correct answer wins via SMS. Season 2 of IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY premieres Thursday 1st March 2012 at 8pm and broadcasts Thursdays at
Actress Nana Akua Addo has brightening GhanaCelebrities.Com’sweekend with these NEW HOT SEXY promo photos. We have seen and published several promo photos, and we have also rejected many promo photos but these ones add colour to the air-SEXY is the word.
I don’t think one can get any more sexier than these!
The First Runner-Up of TV3’s Ghana Most Beautiful, Enam joined the Environment Health Club; a Tema based Non-Governmental Organization to officially launch the Hand Hygiene sensitization awareness creation and education programme at the DEKS Educational Institute in Tema.
Enam on her part emphasized on the need to use potent hand sanitizers. She stressed that it should be fairly easy to use in situations where there are no proper facilities for hand washing with water and soap.
She highlighted on the importance of hand washing and how this could lead to the reduction of diseases such as meningitis, hepatitis A, types of cholera, influenza, flu and common cold. She said it was important each and everyone become conscious of environmental sanitation and personal hygiene.
She appealed to the audience to become ambassadors in their various homes and churches to increase education on the need for hand hygiene.
Enam, real name Christiana Agor represented Volta Region in the pageant.
In recent times, kissing in movies has been a big deal that actors/actresses are coming out to comment on it. Recently when actor Majid Michel was asked which actress he has enjoyed most kissing in a movie, he mentioned Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji.
Martha Ankomah also came out to say she doesn’t have a problem kissing Katawire or Agya Koo. Yet again Chris Attoh has also said he wouldn’t mind kissing Kyeiwaa if the need be.
The 2012 edition of ‘Face of Black Secret’, a beauty pageant created to find an ambassador to spearhead the Black Secret make-up campaign has been was launched yesterday in Accra by Berlin Investment.
Black Secret mineral make-up is a beauty brand devoted to expressing and enhancing the natural beauty of women of colour. Being the premier make-up company in Africa, they pride themselves in providing today’s woman with make-up experience unparalleled in Africa and beyond, creating this range with women of colour in mind.
The pageant organised by Berlin Investment Limited will combine facial beauty, intelligence and talent. The winner of this year’s event will serve as a Brand Ambassador of the make-up kit and also lead the campaign on Cervical Cancer.
Statistics shows that Ghana has a population of 6.57million women ages 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer. Current estimates indicate that every year 3,038 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 2,006 die from the disease. Cervical cancer ranks as the 1st most frequent cancer among women in Ghana, and the 1st most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age.
According Gifty Quacoopome, the Operations Manager of Berlin Investment, the stat above calls for an immediate education and prevention and that is what the ‘Face of Black Secret’ project seeks to achieve.
‘Face of Black Secret’ is eligible for any female [regardless of her place of birth] between the ages of 18 to 30 [by the pageant date]. She must be single [never been married, not presently pregnant, and never having had a child] with good moral character. One’s appealing face and confidence is a plus not necessarily the person’s body size.
Models picked for the pageant would be judged in the following segments; Preliminary Interview, African Attire, Swimwear, Contestants’ Performance, Talent, Evening Wear and Interview.
To be part of the competition, just walk into any shop that sells Black Secret products, purchase a product of Black Secret including their new invisible Pressed Powder worth GHC30.00 and you will be presented with a form.
Fill it and submit it to the nearest location that will be communicated later and stand a chance of qualifying for an audition. The process will be officially opened to the public on March 1, 2012.
Winner of ‘Face of Black Secret’ 2012 would take home a Kia Picanto Car worth GHC 3.000.00. The first and second runner-up [second and third positions] takes home GHC 1.500.00 and GHC 1.000 plus hampers from the sponsors.
I just stumbled on this video of Nigerian Pastor Oyakhilome. In the video he was answering a question relating to masturbation –How does one overcome masturbation? It is interesting that contrary to what most people think that masturbation is against God, Pastor Chris as he is mostly called says it’s actually not a sin.
Masturbation refers to the sexual stimulation of a person’s genitals, usually to the point of orgasm.
Below is a picture of Promzy, a member of the VIP trio. The picture confirms that, he’s a tattoo freak.
Though he avoids talking about his tattoos, it is believed that one on his left arm was for his family. The right is for the streets. His body is for the entire Ghana.
Which of the tattoos is for Ghana girls? The tattoo freaks will be praising him whiles others will castigate him. What do you think about tattoos in general?
The Face of Black Secret 2012 has been launched. GhanaCelebrities.Com captured these pictures of the current queen Selassie Anku, American-based Ghanaian model.
Ladies, check out the pictures below. More details on how you can be part of this year’s edition are coming soon.
‘Billy’ a kid comedy movie features Nadia Buari, Kojo Dadson, Paulina Oduro, Timothy Bentum, 2Toff and others open from March 3 at the Silverbird Cinema.
Having been called names ranging from “Bad Boy” to trouble maker and later in school touted as the most stubborn pupil as well as becoming the greatest enemy of neighbor, Mr. Amponsah’s six years old Billy becomes the talk of the neighborhood in which he resides with his family. His quest to please his young couple parent and best friend next door only pushes him into more trouble.
Below is the movie trailer of the controversial movie ‘Wanna Be’ which is set to be premiered at the National Theatre on Independence Day, March 6.
The movie tagged as comedy and comes with more to launch about features Yvonne Nelson, Prince David Osei as well as Nana Akua Addo, Eddie Nartey, Zynell Zuh among others and directed by award winning director Pascal Amanfo.
Ticket for the premiere goes for GHC 20 and available at Koala Supermarket, Silverbird, Frankies, Joy FM, and Ticketdoug.Com. Hotlines: 0244479242 and 0571111111.
This year’s Ghana Music Awards will not only be organised with a new title sponsor; Vodafone, the awards which is now termed as ‘Vodafone Ghana Music Awards’ or VGMA for short unlike the previous editions has come with many changes.
On April 14 at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Centre, the winners of this year’s edition would be announced to a live audience. The prize for each winner has been increased. Each winner gets GHC 2.000 whiles the Artiste of the Year grabs GHC 10.000.
Below is a detailed plan for the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards 2012:
27th February: The organisers, Charter House will unveil the nominations for this year’s awards which will be telecast live on GhONE Entertainment Television. 1st March: After the unveiling of the nominees, the public can now begin voting for their favourite musician. The voting can be done via SMS [a short code], online via the awards website [www.ghanamusicawards.com]. 10th & 24th March: In venues in Takoradi and Kumasi, music lovers will have the opportunity to get entertained by the nominees. 27th March: There will be an Industry Forum which will have various practitioners in the music industry present to dissect on issues. The forum will be organised in association with the World Bank which is committed at helping and promoting Ghana Music. 31st March: A fortnight to the awards, the nominees will the opportunity to climax the celebrations in Accra 4 weekends in March/April: Just like Takoradi and Kumasi, the nominees will continue with club parties in selected regional clubs. 10th April: With a week to the awards, the Industry Awards takes place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel. 14th April: The main awards night. 15 awards will be presented to deserving musicians to a live audience. Shortly after the awards, the after party continues at a venue to be announced later. 29th April: The organiser’s wraps up the festival with winners presented with their prizes. June to July: The period for the Foundation Activities and Development Project for the award winners
When GhanaCelebrities.Com announced that singer Denice Williams whose singing abilities helped R&M [Rhythm & Melody] towin the first edition of the Vodafone Icons Divas Edition had been kicked out of the group, many thought it was a ploy to promote them.
Senior minds from the group’s camp have come out to deny our report, today, we have busted them and the truth is obvious.
Nothing has been heard about the group after several months but at the launch of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, the trio made up of Denice, Stephanie Lindsey Baaba and Natasha Dedey Mann chose to confirm their break up.
As groups are always seen at events dressed in the same dress, it was exactly the same way Stephanie Lindsey Baaba and Natasha Dedey Mann were dressed. Denice came in later dressed in completely different attire.
Without any doubt, the most popular name in Ghana now is the beleaguered businessman and NDC bankroller, Alfred Agbesi Woyome. On the flipside, it appears that, the name ‘Asamoah Gyan’ will continue to be on the lips of many even outside the country due to many reasons.
Two of the reasons: one has to do with his failed attempt on two occasions to convert a penalty in a Semi Finals match against Uruguay and Zambia at the World Cup in South Africa in 2012 and African Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea 2012 respectively.
Even though he has retired from international duty as a player, majority of the people feel his early retirement was uncalled for, others feel it’s the right thing to do, at least for now.
However, GhanaCelebrities.Com has learnt that information circulating in Ghana says that when the penalty was lost, award winning actress Juliet Ibrahim was one of the people who vented her spleen on the Al-Ain striker with insults on the player via her twitter page.
GhanaCelebrities.Com made a thorough check on the actress’ twitter timeline but nothing came up to validate if indeed she tweeted insults to the Ghanaian striker after his missed penalty against Zambia. It is not however known whether, that particular tweet has been deleted but it appears the actress engaged people in little exchanges prior and after the match.
When GhanaCelebrities.Com asked Juliet Ibrahim if indeed she insulted Asamoah Gyan, she laughed and typed, “You are on my twitter timeline, did you read any insult? What did the person say I said? She asked. Did she really insult him?
Canadian based Ghanaian musician ‘More defiant’ is set to explode on the World music scene like dynamite. Also known as Ras Israel, ‘More defiant’ was born Israel Bentum-Mensah in Ghana, West Africa but now resides in Toronto, Canada.
Some people were born with silver spoons in the mouths, for ‘More defiant’, it was just the opposite. Now, after withering the storm he is looking forward in becoming a famous musician ready to explode and be heard in every corner of the world.
Recollecting how it all began for him, the artiste who was born and bred in Ghana begun his journey from a very small town [APAM] in Ghana.
In a typical middle class home in Ghana, education is seen as paramount; hence any member of such a family must embrace it with alacrity. ‘More defiant’ grew in such an environment, where music was seen as just a hobby and not a profession.
“Every afternoon after our homework was completed the neighbourhood children met under the trees to play. As we did not have normal toys like some other parts of the world, apart from the traditional games we played, the youth always tried to come up with something different to play with. It was through these creative innovations that I started making musical instruments and we entertained ourselves on a daily basis.” He reminisced how the musical adventure began for him.
He continued that, at that young age with no instruments, they started making their own musical instruments which dished out good sounds to their ears. At that age, they couldn’t tell what a fine sound was but they loved what they did. With the help of his friends, they used strings and tins for guitars, buckets and boxes for drums, aluminum plates for Hi hats and anything else they could make a good sound out of them.
Soon, his love for music saw him through to form a three-member band with his friends and they became the entertainers in the hinterland. They continued to entertain the village folks until his family migrated to the capital, where life and things were completely different. In the city, ‘More defiant’ was opened to a whole different lifestyle. His love for music motivated him to join his school choir and that was when he actually came close to real musical instruments apart from the traditional drums. A village boy who with the help of his friends made their own instruments and once dreamt of seeing the real instrument had his dream somehow come true. He was so happy to see the piano, the guitars, and the real drums.”
After high school he went to the university to study Business Accounting and Management. In his first year, he met a musician “who I started writing songs for” he said. The first song he actually wrote for him was an instant hit and he managed to make some money. And guess what – the first thing he thought of buying was a musical instrument – guitar of course.
Unlucky for him, as soon as his dad discovered his involvement in music, he stopped paying for his education. With a lot on his head, ‘More defiant’ dropped out of school for a while and ended up on the streets.
That didn’t deter him, he started writing and playing music with various bands and musicians who needed his services. He did this for a while until he was introduced to Michael Morgan, the cousin of the Morgan Heritage family.
The royal band was the opening act for Buju Banton on his Til Shiloh African tour. He was employed as a bassist and a back up vocalist. After the tour he migrated to England with the money he made co writing songs and playing music as a session musician.
While in England, ‘More defiant’ played couple of shows through his association with a reggae and pop band called the Pillars. He recorded a couple of songs that weren’t big but rotated in the underground world.
In 2002 he recorded his first album [one love] then went back home to promote the album with the Ghana Customs Band. He also established a recording studio which helped promote local musicians and also gave him the chance to experiment on his own musical style.
He returned to England in 2004 and had a huge musical success when he wrote a song [say no to racism] against hate crimes for the BBC Humberside. He was then invited to perform on a live show which was telecast for a month. He continued to play in a couple of clubs until he migrated to Canada in 2005.
In 2006 after playing shows at Lula Lounge and a couple of other small venues, he was eventually spotted by the organizers of Afrofest and he played to the entertainment of all who were around to see.
He then did a couple of interviews with the major stations [cbc,omni,chry,ckln]. After some very positive feedbacks, he decided to take some time out of the music scene to perfect his act and he is now ready to explode like a Dynamite.
Damien Debra’s and his Stepmother Atinuke were best of friends before she stumbled on the Will. They are now arch enemies and Tinuke wants Damien out of the way at all cost. Every possible scheme Tinuke implores to achieve her aim seems not to be working, until the day she comes across Davids, a low life who is a replica of Damien.
Damien is an introvert while Davids is an extrovert. But Davids through Doris the only and trusted friend of Tinuke has to learn to become Damien. It is not a difficult task at all for Davids to become a perfect IMPOSTOR!
Damien is kidnapped to be killed. But as fate would have it, the assailants mistake Damien for Davids and Damien life is spared. The torture makes him to lose consciousness afterwards. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the hands of total stranger who thinks he is Davids. Damien decides to adapt the name Davids to stay alive.
On the dying moment of Damien’s benefactor, David’s grandmother, it was revealed that Davids is his twin brother! – Damien is spoiled for war! Nothing must happen to his twin brother! He must save his brother’s life from the hands of the assailants.
‘The Impostor’ is a story of love, hate, double cross and intrigues beyond comprehension! It stars Yemi Blaq, Alex Osifo, Nse Ntim Ikpe, Thelma Okuduwa among others. It was produced by Sunny Ken Awoji and directed by Tola Balogun.
The movie was nominated for screening in Nollywood Ireland Film Festival for its story content and picture quality in Sept. 2011 and in the Abuja Film Festival 2011. The movie will start showing at the silverbird, Accra from the 24th of February 2012. It’s a must watch.
Having been called names ranging from “Bad Boy” to trouble maker and later in school touted as the most stubborn pupil as well as becoming the greatest enemy of neighbor, Mr. Amponsah’s six years old Billy becomes the talk of the neighborhood in which he resides with his family. His quest to please his young couple parent and best friend next door only pushes him into more trouble.
Billy’s Mr. Boateng and Fiona Boateng trained him well. He is their only child and given all the attention yet he is a pain in the neck of his parent.
Across the street is Kofi and Fiifi, a twin whose father is an Army officer. Their father’s quest for them to be leaders and winners in whatever activity they participate in seem to put the kids on the edge. Their friendship with Billy and Lizy- a smart young girl who lives with her grandparent next door to Billy seem to be alive though they are all older than Billy.
Enters a puppy found by Billy on the streets. When his mother objected to him keeping the puppy at home, he turns to his father who reluctantly permits him to keep it with a deal of keeping up with a good behavior. When the puppy is discovered by the other kids in the neighbourhood and his mothers discovers Billy’s smartness in turning his father against her orders, Billy’s trouble only multiplies.
The movie starts with a breath taking action scene which has never before been seen on the screen. Billy is a funny character. He falls into the hands of the bad guys who had visited his estate to commit crime.
Billy, in an amazing feat, after hours of interrogation and intimidation, escapes from the bad guys. Out of necessity, Billy calls the police, and proceeds to solve the clues that lead to the location of the robbers. He is involved in another never before seen action stunt (which could realistically happen) along with other hilarious scenes.
Billy is at times the pawn of the bad guys and occasionally one step ahead of them. Sometimes he doesn’t know why people complain about what he does and sees nothing wrong with his activities. One of Billy’s flaws is that he never gets it right. There are a few coined words and phrases that help this movie out. As well as, flashbacks with bits of wisdom, from learning in class and remembering the Police line help make this kid – comedy script unique to others.
At the end of the day, the touted demon saves the day, helps the police to arrest the bad guys and thereby becomes a hero and reconcile with his enemy -Mr. Amponsah- who had earlier blamed Billy for his missing car which was also found in the custody of the bad guys.
‘Billy’ is a kid comedy movie from the stables of Rehill Productions. It stars Nadia Buari, Fred M. Johnson, Kojo Dadson, Paulina Oduro, Timothy Bentum, 2Toff, Devonte Ferguson. It starts showing from Saturday March 3rd at the Silverbird Cinemas inside Accra Mall.
GhanaFilm Industry will experience the best of African films this season as F.O.F.A outdoor top African films from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal and Black Films from the Diaspora.
The event will showcase entries from these countries at the Silverbird cinema in Accra. F.O.F.A opens at Goethe Institute with a two day workshop 1st and 2nd of March and films show daily from 1st to the 4th of March at the Siverbird Cinema. F.O.F.A exhibition sale for films at discounted rates at the Accra Mall.
There will be top feature films, short films and documentary short showing. The most interesting bit is that kids are not left out “BILLY” the first family film showcasing the best of talented kids is feature film shot in Ghana is showing at the festival.
Much exciting the indigenous African film will showcase AMAA award winning YORUBA film “ARAMOTU” and lovers of Yoruba film are in for lifetime laughter with the only COMEDY indigenous “AMISU”.
List Of Movies Submitted For Festival Of Films, Africa:
Bianca (Diaspora) Mr. & Mrs. (Nigeria) Tango With Me (Nigeria) Unwanted Guest (Diaspora Usa) Stolen (Diaspora) Mind Game (Nigeria) No Time To Die (Ghana) Soil (South Africa) Impostor (Nigeria) Dead Man’s Tale (Nigeria) Microphone (Egypt) Love Brewed (Ghana) Billy (Children Ghana) Aramotu (Indigenous – Nigeria) Devil’s Kingdom (Tanzania) Maami (Indigenous – Nigeria) Maffe Tiga – Peanut Butter Stew (Senegal) Taharuki (Kenya Short Film) Weakness (Uganda Short Film) Monark (Ghana/ India) Destiny Of A Lesser Animal (Ghana) Return Of Jenifa (Indigenous – Nigeria) Kiss & Tell (Diaspora) Infamous Deception (Diaspora) Not My Mission (Diaspora) Legend Of Portnalong (Documentary) Amisu (Indigenous – Nigeria)
Ghanaian songstress Efya will join forces with the likes of Nigeria’s Tiwa Savage, Darey and Banky W, South Africa’s Lira and Leanne, Maurice Kirya from Uganda to record a tribute for late Whitney Houston who passed away on Saturday, 11 February.
The queen of pop was found dead in her hotel room in Beverly Hills the night before the 54th Grammy Awards.
The tribute will be aired on Channel O. Join Africa in honouring this musical talent by watching Africa Remembers Whitney on Channel O DStv Channel 320 on Sunday 19 February at 09:00, 17:00 and 22:00 CAT.
The segment, which will be aired on the channel throughout the weekend, includes a heartfelt biographical account of Whitney’s life in music, recorded with Channel O VJ, Joey from Kenya.
The luxurious Golden Tulip Hotel inside the Golden City, Kumasi on Saturday February 25 will come to light as the venue hosts a fashion show organised to promote culture among the youth of Ghana; ‘Fashion Recap & Music 2012’.
The event which is aimed at whipping the interest of the youth to support and purchase locally made designs, is expected to attract hundreds of local designers to showcase their designs.
The event which will be hosted by Ghanaian actor Chris Attoh promises to be exciting as finest of Ghanaian models have been contracted to model in the clothes made by the local designers.
Ghana’s fastest rapper currently and king of ‘Azonto’ Sarkodie will dish out hits after hits from his repertoire of two albums. Also to join him to entertain the patrons on the night includes Nana Frema and Asantewaa. Tickets are available at the front desk of Focus FM [KNUST Campus], Ababio Express [Amakrom] and Opoku Trading [Adum] for GHC 20 [Advance] and GHC 30 [at the Gate].
For advance tickets, please call:0201-400-666 and 0547-237-297.
When we broke the news that, Ghanaian singer Miss Wilhelmina Abiba Abu-Andani known in the showbiz industry as Mimi Divalish has changed her name to Habiba, we promised to bring you the new image for the new brand.
She said: “I changed name to Habiba, though names don’t change personalities, they build it. Habiba is my inner ego and so I introduce to you Habiba which means my beloved, sweetheart or my love one in Arabic.”
Ghanaian actor, satirist and TV Personality, Kwaku Sintim-Misa [KSM] has taken Ghanaian movie makers to the cleaners due to what he calls poor nature of their movies. Even though he didn’t mention names, he described their movies as “concert” to show his strong aversions.
The actor who doubles as the host of a weekly entertaining program on Metro TV; ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ utterances came at the time when the Ghana Movie Industry has seen a magnificent growth in the areas of costuming, directing, scripting and the equipment used in filming.
The growth has also seen major players in the industry winning prestigious awards in and out the African continent. Also Hollywood movie stars have made appearances in Ghanaian movies but KSM is unmoved.
The country’s stand up comedian in an interview with Adom Entertainment News said movies produced in Ghana over the years are sub-standard and called for a drastic change in the industry.
He said: “Though the [Ghana] movie industry has shown some growth, there is more to be done in order to build a robust industry that can stand the test of time. What we call the movie industry in Ghana is nothing but, excuse my words, concert.”
On what can be done according to him to change the face of the dwindling industry to the level that would see Ghana movies appreciated and stand the test of time. He said, the industry needs more resources to train more professionals.
KSM is one of the characters in Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s ten character movie series; ‘Adams Apples’.
Do you share KSM’s sentiments? We’ll love to hear your thoughts on this.
I’m not privy to the role or the importance of the movie poster in the marketing of a movie except that it creates a certain level of attention about the said movie. Aside the awareness, what else does the poster contribute? There has been noise about who should appear on a movie poster when a poster is released.
I know that when an actor is contracted to shoot a movie, he or she after the completion of the movie has no right to ask or expect to be put on the poster. There is no negotiation on that as far as I know.
I got the opportunity to have a look at a movie contract between a producer and an actor and it was stated in the contract that, the actor has no right to oblige the producer or the director to use him on the poster. Whoever is used on the poster is the movie maker’s prerogative.
In a country with high illiteracy rate, majority of the people purchase movies based on two things, at least I have listened and watched people buy movies and the conversations that go on before a purchase indicate so. I have also spoken with movie marketers, vendors as well as distributors on this issue.
One of the determing factors of purchase is that, the names of the actors/actresses in the movie are taken into extensive consideration. Since this is Ghana, it’s not too surprising. The second reason is based on how catchy a movie poster is.
How catchy can a movie promo poster be? In Ghana, a movie that features a favourite actor or actress is considered a good movie even before the movie is bought and watched. Also if the person is not too familiar with the names of the actors, the catchy poster helps such a person to either purchase the movie or otherwise.
Since it’s the right of the movie maker to use whose face he or she believes will sell the movie, why then is it a problem at some quarters?
I have seen lots of movie posters with simple designs with maybe one or two actors on it. And I have also seen big sophisticated and crowded posters with virtually all the cast in the movie on it. In some instances, it includes the producer and the director.
Since we can’t tell a movie maker who should be placed on the movie promo, what posters move you as a consumer?
Is it the simple poster with maybe two actors on it or you fancy the poster with sophisticated designs with virtually all the casts?
If anything, does a poster or art work influence your movie purchasing decisions?
February 14 is Valentine’s Day. I will not preach to you what Valentine is but it is also a National Chocolate Day in Ghana, so why songstress Efya decided to compose a song for the former and not the latter amazes me.
I guess we all know the reason, don’t we? Valentine is celebrated world wide. On such a special day as Valentine, Efya has released her new single titled ‘Best In Me’ for the occasion.
When I watched this video early January, I remember saying ‘wow’ and wanted to release it immediately but I was told, it will be released on Valentine’s Day. The producers prevented me from releasing it instantly but finally it’s Val’s Day and it’s finally here.
The song ‘Only You’ by Sala featured EL, one of the youngest sound engineers in Ghana and the brain behind Sarkodie’s biggest hit ever ‘You Go Kill Me’. When you hear ‘this is craze chale’ then you know EL produced the beat.
The video was directed David Media Group under the tutelage of Samad Davis who won the topmost at the 4Stye Music Video Awards. This is another winnable video.
Sala is under the Paradise Entertainment. Check out her previous singles; ‘Keti Keke’ and ‘Kasa Low’.
Ghanaians are sore losers. Yes they take defeat seriously and you can’t blame them for it. Perhaps they don’t care about the feelings of the other teams – all they care about is to win and win.
Striker Asamoah Gyan’s inability to convert the penalty in the game against the Chipolopolo of Zambia in the Semi Finals of the just ended African Cup of Nations was the reason why Ghana failed to advance to the finals and subsequently win it. We don’t even know if we would have won it.
I know you would ask “So what happened to those clear and begging chances we missed?” All I can tell you is that if Gyan had converted the spot kick, it would have changed the face of the match. Laughs!
I know you will say that, even Ivory Coast’s Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, a much bigger player than Gyan also wasted a penalty in the finals. And I will respond with, Drogba wasted a penalty kick and so what?
Is he a Ghanaian? Well if you care to know Ghanaians don’t care about him because he’s not Ghanaian. They are probably complaining about Gyan because he’s a Ghanaian.
After failing to convert the spot kick which many believed prevented Ghana from winning its 5th AFCON Cup and with the believe that Ghanaians are after him for breaking their hearts, Gyan played it cautious by not travelling to Ghana.
From the tournament, Gyan flew straight to his club Al Ain in UAE. The picture shows Gyan being welcome with cheers and happiness. I can bet the reception would have been different in Ghana. Check the picture below.
The premiere was attended by virtually all the casts and crew of the movie except actress Nadia Buari. Her absence didn’t actually take anything away from the premiere which had a fairly good attendance. (Nadia Buari is notorious for not showing up at her own movie premieres).
Each lady who was at the premiere returned home with a present from Black Secret.
‘Be My Guest’ was written by the writer of the award-winning hit television serial ‘Things We Do For Love’, Eddie Seddoh Jnr. and directed by Selassie Tetteh who also doubles as the co-writer of award winning movie ‘Checkmate’ from Sparrow Production.
Also starring in the movie includes; Timothy Bentum, Fred Amugi, Zapp Mallet, Louis McCarthy, David Bangura, TV & radio personality Eddy Blay Jnr., ace musician Ben Brako and former Nigeria’s Most Beautiful, Omotu Bissong.
On Tuesday March 6 a new Ghanaian movie ‘Wanna Be’ would be premiered at the national premiere entertainment centre; National Theatre at 6:30pm.
Since it is the celebrations of the Ghana’s Independence, the day would be declared as a statutory holiday, so the premiere is expected to attract number of movie enthusiast as well as several celebrities to see the movie which has been tagged as an epic comedy.
Without giving out too much of the story, ‘Wanna Be’ is simply a story of a ‘wanna be’ girl who is from a very poor background that she has to result to bragging and lying in other to get the opportunity to wine and dine with her friends who are well to do.
Rightly so, it appears people are liked based on their status in society; who they are; what they can do or what they have done – the story dwells much on that.
It is a story about three friends Lieana, Kate and Caroline. Lieana [played by Nana Akua Addo] is from a poor background and also a habitual liar whiles the other two, Kate [played by Yvonne Nelson] and Caroline [played by Zynell Zuh] are well to do. In a way for them to accept her, she results to bragging and constant lies. It’s like almost everything she says is laced with lies here and there.
As she continues to lie, Prince David Osei who plays a plumber gets attracted to her thinking he can make money from from her. She on the other hand, has fallen for Eddie Nartey, a gate boy who drives his master’s posh cars around town.
The movie comes with comic scenes with more to laugh about. It features actors Yvonne Nelson, Prince David Osei as well as Nana Akua Addo, Eddie Nartey, Zynell Zuh among others and directed by award winning director Pascal Amanfo.
‘Wanne Be’ is on Shangai Film Production under the tutelage of Edmund Quarshie [Shangai] who doubles as an actor, a musician, director and a producer.
Ticket for the premiere goes for GHC 20 and available at Koala Supermarket, Silverbird, Frankies, Joy FM, and Ticketdoug.Com. Hotlines: 0244479242 and 0571111111.
Ghana’s Black Stars failed in their bid to qualify to the finals of the 2012 African Cup of Nations as they lost by a late goal to the Zambians in the first Semi Finals match of the on-going AFCON in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
The resilient Zambia’s inspirational goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene climbed to the occasion to save an Asamoah Gyan penalty in the early part of the first half. The Zambian goal was scored by substitute Emmanuel Mayuka with just 12 minutes remaining to end the match.
The lost means Ghana will play in the third place match against the Malians who also lost by a lone goal against the tournament favourites; Ivory Coast in the second Semi Finals. Even though the Ghanaians defeated the Malians by two goals to nil in the group stages, the Malians would be a tough nut to crack this time around as they would not allow Ghana to beat them twice in the same tournament.
Many Ghanaians as well as soccer analysts are commenting on the missed chances by the Ghanaians to qualify to the finals. Jerry Kwame Ayensu like many others believes, the Zambian game was a match that the Ghanaians played very well and yet had to lose because of the failed chances.
Even though Ghana created as many chances, the team failed to convert any including Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty kick.
“I think this was the best game of the tournament by Ghana after creating nine clear chances and missing a penalty. We just have been riding our luck all throughout the tournament but this gives us the opportunity to scour the market very well for the very best of playing materials as we lacked the materials for this tournament at some point.”
Ghana hasn’t scored many goals especially when half fit former Sunderland striker Gyan was forced to play as a lone striker with Jordan Ayew closely behind him. Jerry advised that the team and the coach be maintained with more vigorous work done for next year’s tournament in South Africa.
“We were suspect with our laterals and strikers from game one up until today. We just must try keeping this team together with the coach even though his frailties were evidently clear and give him the opportunity to rewrite his scripts together with his staff as another nations cup beckons in 10month time in South Africa.” He told GhanaCelebrities.Com.
On Gyan’s missed penalty kick which in all indication would have changed the face of the match, Jerry Ayensu was quick to add that, “Asamoah Gyan was just in a hurry to go dance and so gave himself out for the most inspirational Kennedy Mweene [Zambia’s goalkeeper] to stop that ball.”
In a similar fashion at the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa, the Al Ain striker missed the penalty against the Uruguans after Luiz Suarez had prevented the ball from entering the net with his hands. Ghana eventually was knocked out in the Quarter Finals in the penalty shoot outs.
Even though he was known to be half fit before the commencement of the tournament, the football analyst admonished him, “He must be serious with his game and grow as he is no longer a teenager, we cannot overlook his injury prior to the tournament but doing everything the basic and simple way must be a lesson for him.”
