When you’re one of the most successful artists of your generation, a time comes when you need to innovate.

And just like some of his illustrious predecessors did in their heyday, Over Again hitmaker, Edem, says he’s adding a live band to his repertoire.

Drawing his inspiration from the likes of Abrantie Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi Bessa Simons and other highlife artists that have endowed Ghana’s rich musical history, Edem reveals that this is a new step in his career and says he’s assembled a group of bandsmen he hopes will take his music to the next level .

Brimming with confidence and enthusiasm, Edem says he’s more than excited about his new project and let out a small secret that will certainly excite his fans.

“I’m also learning to play some instruments,” he says, “And I can’t wait for people to see me playing an instrument live. It might be a piano, guitar or whatever”.

Asked why he has decided to play live at this point in his career, Edem says he feels it will give his image a facelift, a new appeal and a new direction .

Barring all the difficulties associated with keeping and maintaining a live band in mind, the Nyonuviade rapper and Dzodze native plans to be more strategic with how he uses his band.

“It’s not every show that I’ll be performing live but most of the strategic shows that are live band oriented like Ghana Music Awards for example.

I feel that I can do better with live band than a lot of people because I’m the best hip-hop performer in the country, and once I roll out and I start performing live it has to continue.

I’ll try and see if I can add traditional instruments like the local drums that I’d rap over and take this to a totally new creative direction.”

Commenting on what different thing his band would bring to the music scene, he said: “Because I’m a purely hiphop artist, most of my songs are rap songs but I want to infuse hiphop with live band music and do it effectively.

“People shouldn’t think that it’s only soldiers and highlife artists that can do live band music.

With the kind of consistency my musichas achieved since my first album, people should know that this is something I’m going to do on a highly professional level.”

Edem divulged that he has named the band Volta Regime Music Group (VRMG) band and says he wants his fans and people in general to associate his band with his music brand like it pertains in other countries.

“In time, as an artist, I want to be identified with my band as pertains in other countries where some artists can be identified with their bands.

This is what the old very classic highlife artists used to do,” he told Showbiz.

The next plan, according to Edem, is to conquer Africa with his band in tow. He sees the next five years as an opportunity to grow his brand and his band to continental renown.

“Within five years, the Edem brand is supposed to be found on the African continent and by this I mean visibility in Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and efforts are already being made in that direction.”

In his final words, he said he would be releasing his new album titled Books and Rhymes very soon and thanked fans and well wishers for supporting his career.

“And I have a lot of major international collaborations on my album so they should look out for it also,” he said.

Source: Graphic Showbiz

ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Kwabena Kwabena
Sonnie Badu
Shatta Wale
Sarkodie
Samini
Guru

BEST GROUP OF THE YEAR
R2Bees
4×4
Ruff ’N’ Smooth
D2

NEW ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Akwaboah
Joey B
Kumi Guitar

BEST RAPPER OF THE YEAR
SARKODIE- RAP ATTACK
Trigmatic – Wo Sika Nti
M.anifest – Someway Bi
EL – See Me Suffer
Guru – Let Me Love You

VODAFONE SONG OF THE YEAR
Adult Music – Kwabena Kwabena ft Samini
Odo Pa – Castro ft Baby Jet & K.Kinata
Slow Down – R2Bees ft Wizkid
Dancehall King – Shatta Wale
Metanfo – Bisa K’Dei
Tonga – Joey B ft Sarkodie
Ma Ye Se Mo Pen – Oj
Boyz Abre – Guru
Down On One – Sarkodie ft Fuse ODG
Million Pound Girl – Fuse ODG

GOSPEL SONG OF THE YEAR
Osoree Nnwom – Cecilia Marfo
Maher-Shalal-Hash-baz – Nicholas Omane Acheampong
Wonder God – Sonnie Badu
Ma Ye Se Mo Pen – OJ Nyame
Egwamaa – Joyce Blessing ft Jewel Ackah
Menwu – Patience Nyarko

HIPLIFE SONG OF THE YEAR
Boyz Abre – Guru
Down On One – Sarkodie ft Fuse ODG
Tonga – Joey B ft Sarkodie
3 Points – Gasmilla
Anadwo Ye De – 4×4

REGGAE / DANCEHALL SONG OF THE YEAR
Freaky Gal – Jupita
Pull Up – Stonebwoy
Hot Cake – Pope Skinny ft Shatta Wale
Dance Hall King – Shatta Wale
Fever – D2 ft Shatta Wale
Scatter Badmind – Samini

HIGHLIFE SONG OF THE YEAR
Adult Music – Kwabena Kwabena ft Samini
Odo Pa – Castro ft Baby Jet & K.Kinata
Love – R2Bees
Metanfo – Bisa K’Dei
Break Into 2 – Kumi Guitar

AFRO POP SONG OF THE YEAR
Latex – Edem ft Kaakie
Million Pound Girl – Fuse ODG
Dance (Neke Neke) – Tiffany
Slow Down – R2Bees ft Wizkid
Dance For Me – Ruff ’n’ Smooth
Scream – Eazzy

BEST COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Odo Pa – Castro ft Baby Jet & K.Kinata
Down On One – Sarkodie ft Fuse ODG
Slow Down – R2Bees ft Wizkid
Adult Music – Kwabena Kwabena ft Samini
Azonto Boyz – Guru ft Lil Win
Hot Cake – Pope Skinny ft Shatta Wale
Nyame Egwamaa – Joyce Blessing ft Jewel Ackah
Tonga – Joey B ft Sarkodie

HIP HOP SONG OF THE YEAR
See Me Suffer – EL ft Lil Shaker
Lies – Sarkodie ft Lil Shaker
Someway Bi – M.anifest
Marilyn Monroe – Dee Mooney ft Fuse ODG
Me Wo Dollar – Kwaw Kese ft EL

HIPLIFE / HIP HOP ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Sarkodie
Eazzy
R2Bees
Guru
M.anifest
EL
Joey B

HIGHLIFE ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Bisa K’Dei
Kwabena Kwabena
Castro

GOSPEL ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Sonnie Badu
Nicholas Omane Acheampong
OJ
Joyce Blessing
Patience Nyarko

AFRICAN ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Mafikizolo
P-Square
Davido
Kcee
Wizkid
Flavour

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Sarkology – Sarkodie
Heavy Price – Joyce Blessing
Aroma Of Worship – Sonnie Badu
Thanks Giving – Bisa K’Dei
Apae – Manifest
Boyz Abre - Guru

BEST MALE VOCAL PERFORMANCE
Sonnie Badu – Wonder God
OJ – Ma Yese Mo Pen
Knii Lante – Baby Take Good Care
Kwabena Kwabena – Engya Me Ho
Castro – Oo Pa

SONG WRITER OF THE YEAR
Ma Yese Mo Pen – OJ
Wo Sika Nti – Trigmatic
Engya Me Ho – Kwabena Kwabena
Baby Take Good Care – Baby Take Care
Baba – Bisa K’Dei

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Kaywa
Shatta Wale
KillBeatz
Nacy
Guru
Dj Breezy
Bisa K’Dei

GOSPEL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Heavy Price – Joyce Blessings
Aroma Of Worship – Sonnie Badu
Nokwasem – OJ
Maher—Shalal-Hash-Baz – Nicholas Omane Acheampong
Mekasa Ama Awurade – Patience Nyarko

BEST FEMALE VOCAL PERFORMANCE
Efya – Life
Joyce Blessings – Nyame Egwamaa
Mariam Afari – Ashesi Nyame
Gina West – No Power Against Me

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Trigmatic – Wo Sika Nti
Knii Lante – Baby Take Good Care
Tseataa (Josh Laryea) – Kane
Afriyie – Everlasting Love
Akwaboah – I Do Love You

OTHER CATEGORIES
Best Music Video Of The Year

Instrumentalist

Life Time Achievement

Music For Development

Traditional Artiste Of The Year

Sound Engineer MUSIGA MERIT

Pope Skinny  is finally number one on the popular Africa show BBC 1xtra.

The Asuoden Music rapper who on Saturday gave a tremendous performance at the Ghana DJ Awards night has expressed his excitements in a tweet on Monday saying “Bigupz to All #AsuodenMusic fans who No Dey Hear and #SM4LYF. We’ve gone global with #HOTCAKE. We are now number 1. Thanks to Hype Lyrics for the beat”.

“The entire team is really excited about it and it tells where the rapper is taking GH music.

The collaboration was good and Hype Lyrics also did hid very best on the beat.

We proud of Pope and we hope the success of this particular single reflects in the coming Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA)”, PR Assistant Reagan OdeiOfosuOsarfo stated.

Most of the songs that have made it to the number 1 spot have gone on to be play listed. Could Pope Skinny be the first Ghanaian based artist to be play listed on 1xtra?

“The track is one of the hottest tracks and every DJ loves it” DJ Edu commented.

www.viasat1.com.gh

The upcoming Young Money compilation album , Rise of an Empire , already boasts two hit singles, with Drake ‘s “Trophies” and most recently, Nicki Minaj ‘s controversy-baiting “ Lookin’ A** N****s, ” generating headlines and airplay.

Now, label boss Lil Wayne has teamed up with Nicki Minaj and Tyga for the latest single from the compilation, “Senile,” which can be heard below.

It’s a dark, minimal track that emphasizes lyrical dexterity of the rap triumvirate trading verses on the microphone.

Fans can hear all twelve new tracks from the Young Money stable when Rise of an Empire hits retailers on March 11.

Among the new songs is a new solo tune from Lil Wanye, entitled “Moment.”

Legendary Detroit rapper Eminem has announced that he’ll embark on a three-city U.S. tour with none other than pop superstar, Rihanna .

The huge news comes from the latest issue of XXL , which features Eminem on the cover alongside Dr. Dre and Interscope Records head honcho Jimmy Iovine with a story based around the recently launched Beats Music streaming services.

Eminem also took to his Twitter account to spread the word regarding the Monster Tour with Rihanna, which he revealed would happen this August in New York, Detroit and Los Angeles.

No dates or venues have yet to be announced.

Rihanna and Eminem have had a very fruitful working relationship over the years.

They teamed up on 2010 single “Love the Way You Lie” (from Em’s Recovery full-length from the same year) which went on to be a massive success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and garnering a slew of Grammy nominations.

They came together again for “The Monster,” a joint single from Eminem’s most recent album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Like “Love the Way You Lie,” it went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chris Brown has finally announced a release date for his long-awaited sixth album, X.

“X is by far my best album yet…,” tweeted Breezy, revealing the follow-up to 2012′s Fortune will arrive on May 5, which coincides with Brown’s 25th birthday.

Chris also shared what may be the album’s official artwork, which sees him exhaling smoke with a red X superimposed on the image.

X will include contributions from Kendrick Lamar, Brandy, Kelly Rowland, Wiz Khalifa, and B.o.B. as well as production credits for Timbaland, Diplo, Polow Da Don, Danja, Pharrell, and Drumma Boy.

In other news, Brown was spotted over the weekend at California’ Universal City Walk, shooting the video for his latest single, “Loyal” featuring Lil Wayne,French Montana, and Too $hort.

Ghana’s award-winning international jock, DJ Champagne is set to drop the official Ghana mixtape of the “Foam Party Riddim” produced by Arketek Music, Jamaica.

The mixtape includes over 24 Ghana artistes who have worked joints on the product, respectively. The mixtape is due for an official release on Friday, February 21, 2014.

This riddim mixtape project is the first of its kind to be ever done, OFFICIALLY, by any Ghanaian jockey.

Already endorsed by Dale Johnson (CEO of Arketek Music Productions, Jamaica/New York), there is high anticipation among Ghana dancehall fanatics as well as the international community who loves Dancehall music.

“As we are all aware now, Dancehall has come of age and is the biggest genre in Ghana right now, unquestionably.

As an international DJ, I have played at several places and my routine plays on radio has had a heavy but positive influence to me to involve more of my time and space to the Dancehall community, especially the talents from Ghana.

With my huge following and repertoire, I find it worthwhile to also assist in promoting the genre hence I went ahead and had discussions with the producer of the riddim, Arketek Music, who was highly elated about us doing an official mixtape for the FOAM PARTY RIDDIM to help boost the euphoria the riddim has brought to the music community.

His initial production which was the official release had about 10 artistes on it from Jamaica.

But all of a sudden the riddim became a household material in Ghana when I came out as the first on air personality to start promoting it; it caught the attention of our talented acts here in Ghana too and they jumped on it with some even shooting music videos for it – the likes of Episode and Stonebwoy who have shot videos for their joints on the Foam Party Riddim is enough evidence of how viable the riddim is.

I know there are other DJs and presenters who are particularly inclined to the genre here in Ghana but I just deem it laudable to add my quota to it as well to keep the vibe aglow.

Hopefully we are all set to drop the official Ghana mixtape this Friday, February 21.

If over 24 artistes in Ghana alone valued the riddim and run joints on it, that should tell you how far dancehall has reached and it is my hope and wish that this would open more doors for more acts to start working hard on more joints to fine-tune their lyrics and act.

And this project would be a continuous task I would be doing henceforth.

Arketek Music himself was very elated about the project and even looks forward to the official release which he has endorsed,” DJ Champagne corroborates.

DJ Champagne is an on air jock who plays for the biggest music station in Ghana – Yfm 107.9 - he has hosted several international jock stages including plays on Big Brother Africa show in South Africa.

He has won the “Radio DJ of the Year 2012” at the Radio & TV Personality Awards (RTP Awards).

The FOAM PARTY RIDDIM was initially produced by Arketek Music and had Jamaican acts like Busy Signal, Beenie Man, Mr G, RDX, and others riding on it in September 2013.

You can follow on twitter @Dj_Champagne @Arketek_Musik @ElormBeenie @Ghamaicans for more updates on this project.

APTI stands for Audio Production Talent Impact - an initiative by Duke Debrah and Aaron D. A. Aberimah, co - CEOs of Stereo6 Music record label company, to bring together sound engineers, aspiring sound engineers, artistes and basically, music lovers who would like to know a little more than how to increase the volume of music with buttons on their iPods to how it is actually made.

The main goal of this initiative is to create a platform for easy and effective exchange of talent ideas, music techniques and experiences in the music industry.

From beat creation to sound recording, mixing to mastering, participants of APTI get to watch, learn and work along with the masters in the music industry as they work on real projects for one month.

April. of 2014 is set to be the first ever APTI Month and is to be hosted at Glakos Studios on the Spintex Road, Accra by Co - Founders Aaron A.D. Aberimah (popularly known as Dugudbeatz) and Duke Debrah who are Sound Engineers by Profession having Produced and worked with many well known local and international artistes.

It is also rumoured that this year's APTI month is going to feature a number of surprise Music Producers and Artistes.

The debut of the APTI Month is anticipated to be a special and intensive project and as such, admissions are very limited and so interested participants are advised to apply as early as possible to guarantee a seat with the music gurus come this april.

For more information, you can visit their their Facebook page
- www.facebook.com/stereo6music

The three-day funeral rites of Komla Dumor, BBC senior broadcast journalist and former presenter of Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, begin today.

The ceremony begins this morning with a solemn requiem mass.

That will be followed by public viewing of the body which will enable many people, particularly the youth, to pay their last respects to him.

A liturgical service will be held at the Forecourt of the State House on Saturday, February 22, 2014, followed by a private family burial.

The curtains will be drawn on the funeral rites with a thanksgiving service at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, on Sunday, February 23, 2014.

Shakira has been making waves again. Her collaboration with Rihanna on her single “Can’t Remember to Forget You” has generated a lot of interest — especially the music video — for it’s clothing (or lack thereof) and the titillating relationship between this unexpected duo..

Shakira talked to Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP in Los Angeles (a Radio.com station) about the experience.

And while anyone who follows Rihanna on Instagram knows she keeps it really real, the last thing anyone expected to hear about here was the first thing out of Shakira’s mouth.

“She’s just like the girl next door and she is really, I think, the sexiest woman I’ve seen,” Shakira said.

“Hands down, because I can be sexy, but you have to give me a countdown. Like, ‘Shakira, be sexy. 3, 2, 1. Go!’ You know? But she’s sexy all the time… She’s so cool and mellow….Also, so down to earth.

That’s nice, to work with someone, because it is intimidating to working with a diva, you know, someone who is so, so successful. You never know how they’re going to be.”

It’s probably the first and last time anyone will refer to Rihanna as “the girl next door” but we get the jist.

Shakira admitted she had to ask her husband for permission before she shot the risqué video and joked that she won’t be able to shoot any more videos with men so now we can expect all of her love scenes to be sapphic.

Shakira also addresses her return to The Voice , her history as a rock chick and writing a Nashville song that she got Blake Shelton to duet with her on for her new album.