“If I say I don’t need an award, I really mean I don’t need it” – Shatta Wale reemphasizes

• Posted on January 22, 2014January 22, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

He used unprintable words in a song title “Me no need no award” to establish his displeasure after he lost the Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the year award to female dancehall artiste Kaakie, at last year’s Ghana Music Awards ceremony.

He caused commotion and broke glasses at the Accra International Conference Center after the awards, and insulted award winner Kaakie and Charterhouse organizers of the awards. That whole VGMA drama and controversy was dancehall artiste Shatta Wale’s claim to fame again, after almost a decade in hibernation.

It’s been almost a year now since he suddenly became the most sought after performer in Ghana. As the popular saying goes “A lot of water has passed under the bridge” in 2013 and the “Enter The Net” hitmaker has ‘cleaned up his closet’, putting all the problems he had with people behind him.

Within 2013, he apologized to Kaakie and Samini and ended the year with a public apology to Charterhouse during his performance at Ghana Rocks concert at the conference Center on December 27, and Charterhouse immediately accepted his apology with no hesitation. So obviously Shatta Wale was on a clean sheet to be nominated for the awards and perhaps win on the awards night, but trust Shatta Wale to take you by surprise just when you thought all was settled.

Shatta Wale, arguably the musician with the largest following in Ghana at present, has emphasized that in spite of all his apologies and expression of remorse, he still stands by the line in his song that states that he doesn’t need any award and that he doesn’t have any expectations at all as far as this year’s upcoming Ghana Music Awards is concerned.

Speaking on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review”, Shatta Wale said he thinks that last year was the right time for him to win an award, but since he couldn’t win, he has taken the whole issue of awards out of his mind.

“If I say I don’t need an award, I really mean I don’t need it to make a hit in Ghana. I don’t need any awards! If Ghana would really appreciate the kind of work I am, doing I don’t have a problem but if they don’t give it to me I will always create my music”.

Shatta Wale defused the speculations that he is desperate for awards, and that was why he apologized to Charterhouse at the time he did. “Basically, I just decided that let me just let bygones be bygones because we were entering a new year, so why don’t we forget certain things and move on, but it is not basically because of the awards”.

He said right from childhood he never had any thoughts of doing music, to win awards, because according to him the real award comes from God. “I don’t have that kind of mind from birth. I don’t know who gives awards in music apart from God and it is God who rewards. If Charterhouse feels I have insulted them and they don’t want to give me an award I don’t have a problem with them. It is their life it is their company. So I don’t have problem with them; I just felt that let me just apologize to them and just do what a child would do when he offends his parents”.

Asked if he is expecting any nominations and maybe win any awards, Shatta said he doesn’t even know how an artiste is nominated for the awards, and Ghana Music Awards is really not part of his plans this year because he has a lot of travelling to do and it is possible he might not be in Ghana during the awards. But whatever happens his management will deal with it and he would still be performing and creating his music.

When Kwasi Aboagye host of the show, asked him if he would cause another commotion this year if he doesn’t win any awards, he said; “Then they shouldn’t nominate me and they shouldn’t even invite me to the awards night for them to have another Osama bin Ladin kind of thing. They shouldn’t invite me when they know they are not going to give me any award”.

He said, he was nominated without his knowledge last year, and he does not expect Charterhouse and the VGMA board to repeat the same mistakes.

-peacefmonlie