TGMA 2019, a night meant to celebrate Ghanaian music and excellence, was marred by the actions of two of Ghana’s biggest music acts, marking the highest impact of any musical revival in Ghana in recent memory.
One of the most significant turning points in Ghana’s music history was the “dancehall revolution,” which dominated the music industry in the 2010s. While highlife and hiplife are the bedrock of Ghanaian music, Ghana’s likeness for reggae-dancehall music has always been evident in the loud presence of Rastafarian culture across the country. As such, it was not surprising when, for a while, reggae-dancehall music became the go-to music from Ghana, with Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy leading the charge.
Their rivalry, while profitable commercially, raised some eyebrows from time to time. Still, no one would have thought it would escalate in the way it did on the night of the 20th anniversary of the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), then known as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, in 2019.
The night was arguably one of the biggest and most anticipated award nights since the inception of the awards for several reasons, one of them being the presence of both Shatta and Stone under the same roof. The other, which this writer believes should have received more spotlight, was the “Artiste of the Decade” category. The Shatta-Stone rivalry is well-documented in Ghana’s music history, but the events of the night, fueled by the rivalry, caused one of the darkest nights in our music history.
Many have chosen not to speak on the events that happened on the night due to the trauma and other reasons best known to them. As such, it is surprising that, years later, we are back to this same conversation, where a group of people wish to be rewarded and remembered as winners, while everyone else involved wants to forget about what happened.
The question now is, have we not marred the memory of that night enough? Can’t we let sleeping dogs lie and let that ship sail? The actions of the two not only affected them in the moment but also impacted the investment by the event organizers, which seems to be of little concern to anyone. It also put the lives of hundreds of people in danger, and our music industry was exposed to international ridicule and embarrassment, among many other things. It took the expertise of some individuals, including Samini, to bring calm and see the rest of the evening out, with the exception of the announcement of two categories, Most Popular Song of the Year and Artist of the Year, which were never officially announced.
While this is not the first time there has been a demand for a declaration of the results by Stonebwoy, there is a more intensified attempt at it this time around. Why this is so, only he and his team can answer that. Over the last week, the artist and Vida Adutwumwaa Boateng (PRO of Burniton Music Group) have been on media platforms championing the crusade. While the call in itself is not in bad taste, the actions, shame, trauma, and adverse effects that night had on the celebration of Ghanaian music so far should be enough for us not to want to revisit that conversation.
For context, multiple people were nominated in that category, and if the other nominees have been able to make peace with that and move on, why should we revisit the whole fiasco? Because of one person?
The argument made by Vida on United Showbiz that leaving that year blank will make history incomplete is inaccurate. The year being blank is because of the actions of two people, one being the artist she represents. The absence of a winner is not blank for just being blank.
We missed out on a holistic celebration of arguably one of the most important awards nights in Ghana’s music history because of two people. We have even forgotten about Sarkodie winning “Artiste of the Decade,” an achievement of such magnitude and importance. Because every other good thing was overshadowed by the actions of both Shatta and Stone, this writer believes the pros of not announcing the winner of the night far outweigh any cons.
In a news article published on NYDLive on Monday, Robert Klah stated that the 2019 Artist of the Year remains unannounced. This is a good start in resolving this matter. But we will need an official statement and order from the award scheme to ensure all parties involved, including anyone who “feels” they won the unannounced categories, desist from bringing up the issue.
Six years after the events of the 2019 TGMA awards night, it would do the industry and all those involved a good service to let sleeping dogs lie. We should move on as we have done, rather than fighting over spilled milk, especially when it is one party doing the fighting.
