THE GOOD
With the second coming of Shatta Wale in the Ghanaian music scene, the days when an artiste would charge a paltry sum to perform at various entertainment festivals and shows almost disappeared. Back then, some artistes would even call event organizers and ask to perform for free just to be seen and accepted by the crowd. However, with Shatta Wale’s resistance and perseverance, Ghanaian performing artistes could charge a decent amount between the range of thirty thousand to eighty thousand and sometimes even hundred and twenty thousand cedis which hitherto was a mere dream.
In recent years though, the bar has even been raised further to approximately fifty thousand to two hundred thousand United States dollars for a show. Most artistes now could bargain with event organizers on their own terms, all thanks to Shatta Wale.
Though the dancehall genre of music was present on the airwaves, the second coming of Shatta Wale stamped the genre further and the entertainment world became aware that Ghana is a force to reckon with when it comes to the dancehall genre.
The self-acclaimed dancehall king has made good songs and good collaborations internationally and amongst them is a collaboration with the queen of pop Beyoncé which attracted a lot of attention throughout the world. Not only did he make dancehall attractive, but he also made it competitive and extremely lucrative, such that the youth could freely identify with the genre.
Just as most bloggers pay homage to Ameyaw Debrah for setting the pace and giving them lots of opportunities in the blogging space, Shatta Wale has also undoubtedly contributed to the success of some individuals (bloggers) in the Entertainment industry.
Kwadwo Sheldon, who is one of Ghana’s leading bloggers and a successful YouTuber on 26th November 2022 won an award at the YouTube creators festival recently paid homage to the Dancehall artiste in one of his episodes and thanked him for contributing to his (Kwadwo Sheldon) career. He said it casually though, but heaven knows he meant it.
THE BAD
Shatta Wale has been his own enemy and a force against his own image. He “fires” insults and disrespect directed at fellow musicians, presenters, DJs, and pundits to pretty much anyone who crosses his line. Sometimes with the least or no provocation. He would not spare anyone the most profane, dirtiest, and unprintable words one could ever imagine. Shatta has dented his image across a certain type of fanbase so badly with these unpopular outbursts. He is gradually tearing down what he built with his own sweat and blood.
Neutrals and his “die-hard” fans may argue that he rants about issues and persons who impede his progress or the progress of the professional creative industry as a whole. They also argue that Shatta Wale always has a point, just that he does not articulate his points in a decent and civil manner hence attracting all the negativity. But a critical look at the Dancehall artiste’s attitude even outside his professional life makes the argument of his fans fall flat.
Outside of music or the creative arts industry, the “dancehall king” hitmaker has not stayed out of trouble. With his alleged vehement confrontation with a contractor working on a road project at East Legon, he cannot be defended as one protecting his professional image. The artiste claimed the activities of the construction company impeded his daily life so he took matters into his own hands and got into an altercation with the employees of the construction company.
Another controversy outside of music was his feigning being shot on social media which landed him and some of his close associates in police custody.
Another incident with the law was firing gunshots into the air whilst mentioning WizKid’s name a couple of times just to provoke a reaction from the Nigerian artiste thus causing a disturbance in his neighborhood.
It was such a shame when he was totally ignored by Wizkid but only to receive a response from the ordinary Nigerian populace.
Surprisingly, he (Shatta Wale) was discussed on Joy FM’s political show ”super morning show” after his ”second beef” with his former manager ”BullGod” alleging that the former had revealed secrets about his involvement in the death of Fennec, Kwaw Kesse’s former manager back in 2012. The “Joy FM super morning show” which focuses on political and developmental issues of the country now having to switch and highlight the glaring negative aspect of Shatta’s life outside his music profession was mind-blowing. The host and guests of the morning show concluded that Shatta had come a long way so it was time he focused and got down with the music business instead of engaging in unnecessary bunters.
Interestingly, the damaging comments about “Bulldog” that were made by Shatta Wale concerning the alleged circumstances surrounding the death of Fennec Okyere landed the dancehall artiste a writ of summons from the lawyers of “BullGod”.
THE UGLY
With his image diminishing and his influence in Ghana dwindling, the dancehall artiste seems to be getting desperate day in and day out and this has become so obvious to the general public. Wonder why he seems desperate and frustrated?
This could be a result of being sidelined by some organizers of major entertainment festivals and music concerts in the country. The sheer arrogance, unreliability, and unpredictable nature of the artiste make it difficult to engage him further. His character is so unpredictable that one cannot tell or phantom what he can do or say on a live program or on stage to cause embarrassment to the program and its organizers.
Though it is true that he controls a huge crowd and would fill a concert, it is uncertain that organizers would want to gamble with such an unpredictable character.
Consider these:
The ruining of the VGMA by storming on stage to disrupt the whole event, bringing the CEO of Image Bureau George Quaye to tears. It was painful to see all the hard work and sleepless nights to ensure the program lived up to expectations go down the drain with just one thoughtless action from an artiste (Shatta Wale).
Making unwarranted utterances on a stage in Kumasi during a concert claiming some “underground” artistes (eg Medikal) are not known because the media and the creatives have not paid enough attention to them or given enough opportunities are but a few unpredictable antics of the dancehall artiste.
The situation is so dire to the extent that even some media houses in Ghana may hesitate to grant him an interview because of his unpredictable nature. On 29th October 2022, Joy FM held an Entertainment Roundtable Showbiz that featured industry giants the likes of playwright James “Uncle Ebo” Whyte, Sadiq Abdulai Abu, President of GAMRO Rex Omar, media practitioner, Ruddy Kwakye, legendary music producer Hammer of the last two, CEO of Pidgen Music, Panji Anoff, Stonebwoy, Trigmatic, etc. Entertainment enthusiasts could not have missed such a fruitful and refreshing show.
However, one cannot for a moment imagine Shatta Wale being part of such an exercise. With major events like the Global citizens festival, held in Ghana in 2022, and sidelining the dancehall artiste, speculations are that the event organizers may not be too comfortable and would not for a moment want to sacrifice the integrity and reputation of the Internationally recognized festival to bill such an unpredictable character.
December 2022 would also see Stonebwoy and Burna Boy headline the Afrochella music festival in Ghana. Organizers of this event seemed to have also snubbed Shatta Wale raising more questions as to why the artiste who arguably controls the largest fan base in the country would be snubbed for all major music festivals held in Ghana. However, the latest rumors have emerged that the “Dancehall king” hitmaker has been billed to perform at the music festival barely a month before the show, suggesting that his inclusion may have been an afterthought.
CONCLUSION
Whilst a section of the industry players may see all the controversies and gimmicks as a way for the artiste to constantly be in the news and be talked about in order to stay relevant, others also think it is about time he stopped to reflect and realized he ought to grow his brand and move forward to become appealing to the cooperate world, objective individuals and “floating” fans. There are ”die-hard” fans who would defend the artiste no matter what he does. Others who are more neutral may admire him for his talent but may be put off by his offensive gimmicks and antics. No one can doubt his talent and hard work. There is a saying: “Talent alone is not enough; it needs to be complemented by hard work”. But Shatta has both Talent and Hard work. So, it seems in his case, Talent and Hard work need to be complemented by a good CHARACTER.
All these antics, whether for entertainment purposes or not, have affected and will affect his brand negatively, so the earlier he stopped, the better it would be for him. Does he want to be known as Africa’s most prolific dancehall music export or he wants to be known as the enigma of Ghana music?
Writer : Andy Pratt
