Afrodancehall artiste Stonebwoy has stated that rivalry in the entertainment scene has become very toxic.
He highlighted this by criticising artistes who deliberately release songs on the same day as others have a project out, a move he has labelled “non-directional” and “slavery.”
“Because of such a heightened level of toxicity, we could have channelled that into something very productive, like something very constructive so that our industry will see the shine that it deserves. Look at something, like whenever you decide to drop your EP, we are also going to drop a track on that day, there are a million dates. You can actually drop on that same day of course without telling anybody…
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“If you cannot do without having to tag along somebody so much then it means that you are definitely a slave and non-directional; you just move according to other people’s hard work and success to find some cramp out of it to try and use on yours,” he stated in an interview with MC and hypeman, Kojo Manuel, aired on September 10, 2025.
Stonebwoy explained that although competition has been a part of the industry, what he is currently witnessing is worse than his experience while learning from his predecessors.
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According to him, the situation has escalated to a point where sections of the public seem to enjoy the negativity. This, he fears, is dragging down the progress of the Ghana entertainment industry as a whole.
“Not so much has changed in terms of behaviour in that rivalry space; it’s gotten worse. I think it will keep getting worse. Because under my watch, I am a witness and I’ve served and followed many of our big artistes before arriving at my own duty, it has never been this toxic whereby now you find out that there’s a cross section of the masses who actually celebrate that. So it has become a thing that you have to balance and it’s taking a big toll on our progress as an industry,” Stonebwoy said.
He went on to mention that the energy spent on fueling rivalries could be better directed toward growth, which would benefit everyone in the industry.
Stonebwoy added that artistes who rely on the approach of ‘tagging along’ with other artistes are only showing a lack of originality and direction.
Also catch the latest episode of Talkertainment with Ghana’s most-sought-after MC/Hypeman, Kojo Manuel, below:
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