Veteran artiste manager and showbiz pundit Bullgod has warned that public feuds between artistes and entrepreneurs in Ghana’s music industry are deterring investors from putting money into the space.
Speaking on the Gentlemen and Gentlemen podcast, Bullgod was commenting on the ongoing dispute between Ghanaian rapper Kwesi Arthur and his former record label, Ground Up Chale.
According to him, Ghana’s music ecosystem is currently artiste-led rather than people-led, meaning that decisions and narratives are driven more by artistes’ grievances than by the necessary legal infrastructures and personnel.
“It’s sad because our industry is an artiste-led industry. It shouldn’t be so. It should be a people-led industry. Now we are in this debacle because many lawyers don’t even understand our space. They’ll just throw common law about, but it’s a specialised place. This is what happens, and that is why we will not move forward as a nation,” he said.
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Bullgod pointed to the challenges Ghana’s top artistes face in breaking into global markets, citing a lack of investment as a key barrier.
“That is why Shatta, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, Samini, these top people are struggling to break the market out there because who will do that investment? Who? Nobody. Because if the investor is vilified and is made to look like a criminal, who will do that?” he asked.
According to him, such feuds and happenings in the industry have led to low investor confidence in the music industry.
“There are a lot of people: the RNAQs, the Ibrahim Mahamas, the Despites. These people can do that. But why should they do that when they see all these things happening? And the artistes will always come and play victim. Because they have the platform for people to actually buy into their story. And so, it’s easy for people to gravitate towards the artist side. And they will end up always killing investor confidence,” he explained.
Kwesi Arthur vrs Ground Up Charle
The conflict began in late January when Kwesi Arthur publicly accused his former management outfit of demanding exorbitant fees to use his own images and asserting control over his music and brand long after their professional relationship ended.
The allegations quickly trended on social media under the hashtag #FreeKwesiArthur and have since sparked widespread debate about artist contracts and rights.
The Ground Up Chale–Kwesi Arthur dispute has also resulted in legal action, with the label reportedly dragging the rapper to court over allegations of defamation and seeking substantial damages.
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