THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY IN GHANA'S DANCE HALL COMMUNITY

I’m having flashbacks of a young lad waving a Ghana flag and jumping from one end of the stage to the other as i peep through my window this morning, yes! And after a decade or so, that young man has metamorphosed into the self-acclaimed ‘King of Dancehall’. But long before he achieved this feat, that genre of music was almost extinct but for a certain Samini who single handedly held the fort for dancehall music in an era when the genre had lost its relevance in the industry.

I grew up on Ghanaian music and specifically Hi-Life and Hip-Life. For the purposes of this write-up, I will focus on a sub-genre of Hip-life. I recall how big General Marcus and Root-I were, though I was relatively young by then. However, by the time Pricky’s ‘Obaa F3f33f3’ track became a hit in the late 90’s; I had hit my teens and have vivid memories from that era. That arguably could have been how the genre started, then the likes of Sonni Balli, Yoggi Doggi, Aberewa Nana, and the late Ronnie Coaches also blazed the trail.

ABEREWA NANA

SONNI BALLI

Terry Bonchaka of blessed memory, Batman (now Samini), Bandana (now Shata Wale), Borax and Mad Fish also ushered us into the early years of the new century. By this time, the genre had started gaining grounds and consequently branded Rag-Life, a name that clearly was coined out of two genres, Ragga and Hip-Life. It had almost become impossible for any song to be a hit without a Rag-Life artiste been featured on it.

One lost trail on the number of times Batman featured on several hit songs with King Davids’ ‘Aaye fe nots3’ perhaps been the biggest. Bandana’s ‘No Problem’ and ‘Moko Hoo’ which had strong backings from Tinny were also massive hits in that era, not to forget the exploits of the ‘Puulele’ man Terry Bonchaka that was short lived. Sonni Bali also ‘slew’ Mary Agyepong’s ‘Ade d3d3’ song. I can’t turn a blind eye to Yoggie Doggie who I still reminisce for his verses on Akyeame’s ‘Mesan Aba’ and the ‘Police Abaa song by Nana Nsiah Piesie. Mad Fish also surfaced years later with ‘Yahooya’ which became a chat topper, but many thought he was a replica of Yoggi Doggi and that sparked some sort of battle between the two artistes, however, they fizzled out over time.

That nonetheless wasn’t the first feud in the industry and wasn’t to be the last. Ex-Doe and Chicago had set the stage rolling years before, then the Batman-Ronnie Coaches beef also emerged, but after the well-built Ronnie had dished out a couple of slaps to a then muscle less Batman, that beef also fizzled. The genre had taken a nose dive but that was long after Mr. Borax hypnotized Ghanaians with that banger of a verse on Daddy Lumba’s ‘Ase3ho’.

The fore bearers of the flag for Rag-Life then went on a vacation which will turn out to be lengthy. However, one out of the lot decided to be relevant when the genre had become irrelevant to Ghanaians. He decided to wean himself off Nana Kings’ Ashanti International record label, Sonni Balli, and his Trinity group which had KK Fosu and Kokoveli as members. He then rebranded himself alongside the genre, and that gave birth to Samini and Ghana’s Dancehall genre.

SAMINI

For several years, Samini delivered hit songs after the other; he had become the face of not just Ghana’s dancehall music but the face of Ghanaian music across the continent. From local to international awards, he swept it all. The brand ‘Samini’ had become a yardstick to which artistes were being measured; he became a brand ambassador for Ghana’s largest telecommunication company MTN. Then on one of the editions of TV3’s flagship program ‘Music Music’, Samini did the unthinkable, he performed to a live band, and mine oh mine! He rocked!

After many of such adrenaline-charged performances within Ghana and beyond, his fans conferred on him the name ‘Africa’s Dancehall Stopper’. For a decade, Samini stood and flew the flag for dancehall music. Within these period, Bandana had gone into hibernation, and for those of us who had fallen in love with his ‘Moko Hoo’ days; we wondered of his whereabouts’ and only kept hopes alive that, Bandana will make a comeback sometime in the future.

Then finally, in the build up to the VGMA’s 2013, Bandana re-surfaced, but with a different name and a city of his own. ‘Shata City’ was the song, and Shata Wale was the name. The unfolding events at the awards night in the wake of Shata losing out to who many termed as Samini’s offshoot, Kakie, brought sour grapes to Shata.

Before anyone could say jack, he released a ‘diss’ song as he took a dig at the organizers of the awards, Charter House, Samini and Kaakie also had their fair share from it. Worldwide, the dancehall genre itself, had thrived on beefs and battles, hence many saw it as a normal sequence Shata Wale had taken. Jamaican stars Mavado and Vybz Kartel had to put their beef to rest only after an intervention from the Jamaican government. That’s how far feuds in the dancehall industry gets.

As the weeks wore on, it became evidently clear Shata Wale had finally decided to be relevant once again in the industry. He had parted ways with manager, Mr. Logic. A man many say stood by Shata Wale through difficult periods. The artiste then made his way into the camp of current manager Bulldog and signed on to BullHaus Entertainment.

SHATA WALE

Shata Wale’s popularity had attained new heights; it had evolved into a movement, almost becoming a cult. My 4yr old nephew now wanted to be called Shata, and I’m quite sure this scenario replicated in many homes. In a very short period, the man Shata had released several hit singles, his grudge with Charter House got nasty, not to talk about that with Samini and his offshoots, Kakie and Stonebuoy, who have become the new generation of Ghana’s dancehall music.

 But in the most shocking of all these, he took a dirty dig at former manager, Mr. Logic. Understandably, fame was beginning to take a better part of him, and as that old adage says “you don’t bite a finger that once fed you”; Shata Wale bit that finger. Mr. Logic perhaps took it in good strides and has worked hard to produce yet again, another dancehall prodigy, AK Songstress who I’m of a conviction might turn out as Aberewa Nana’s apparent heir.

With an upcoming music awards gazing at Shata Wale, he killed the pride and the peace pipe was smoked with the organizers of the music awards, Charter House. Nevertheless, just a few days to the awards night, news of an ‘appearance fee’ (apologies to black stars) being demanded by Shata before he performed at the event became ripe.

With both parties not agreeing to a fee, the event went ahead without his performance, but one performer that stood tall that night was Shata Wale’s competitor, Samini. As usual of his live performances, Samini thrilled the audience to some great renditions of his songs and topped it up with his hit single ‘Gbee bi’; a song many have said is a jab at Shata Wale. The song literary means, “take a look at the puppy scrambling over my remnants”.

BY NaNa Yaw Sam