Wednesday 20 March 2013

Morning Shows Hate the Arts - Kwame Dadzie


Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
I have written on this topic before. Yes I have, and I am writing again because sometimes it takes a lot of spanking to mold the character of some recalcitrant children. Some radio presenters must be advised to stop being mischievous.
I remember I wrote on this topic when most morning show hosts made Christiana Love (now Obaapa Christy’s) divorce case their daily bread. In that article, I bemoaned the act of morning shows for discussing entertainment stories on their mediums only when they are negative.
  
Recently, it has resurfaced. Someone should tell those morning show presenters and their producers that they are enemies of the arts. After Chris Brown came to Ghana to take huge sum of money and to corrupt our society, morning shows decided to pick the issue as topic for discussion.
   
My problem is not about condemning what is wrong. My problem is why they go mute on entertainment when something good happens in this turf.
   
Since the morning is the peak for most radio stations, it means programmes at that time command wider listenership. Again, these are the shows most of our leaders and influential people in the country listen to, which means issues discussed at this time have greater impact and hearing than others. But it is usually politics, commerce, agriculture, energy and sports that are mostly talked about.
   

If you hear them talking about entertainment, it is either Agya Koo has been arrested for visa racketeering, Christiana Love is divorced or Chris Brown smoked weed on stage.
  
So they mean they never heard of the 3million Ghana cedis given the arts by the government? Couldn’t they have used their platforms to say, find out how the budget money was going to be shared equitably among stakeholders of the arts, considering that last year the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) arrogated all the 2million cedis to itself?
  
There was a music week celebration during the week. Do they mean they didn’t hear of that too? Why do they always want to magnify the negatives and leave the positives? Bernard Avle of Citi FM and Adakabre Frimpong Manso of Adom FM are the main culprits of this practice. If they won’t hit the positive sides, they shouldn’t discuss the negatives at all.
  
I am still looking forward to seeing which radio station will start doing a complete entertainment morning show, with proper entertainment discussions like they do at Asempa for sports.
   
My ears and eyes are widely open and all my senses are active. I will be back!

Ghana's Dj Kess battles with the best of Africa!

Dj Kess

After winning the Best Female DJ at the maiden edition of the Ghana DJ Awards in February, DJ Kess will be doing battle again for ‘Best Female DJ’ at the upcoming African Global DJ Awards  Scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africaon May 4. She was nominated alongside DJ Nana (Nigeria), Dj Pieces (Nigeria/USA), DJ Lambo (Nigeria), DJ Cndo (South Africa), and DJ Soupamodel (Nigeria/USA).

DJ Kess is currently DJ/Video DJ on Soundcity, a radio DJ on YFM (playing 7-10pm Mondays- Thursday and 9am-12noon on Saturdays) and an entertainment TV host on ETV Ghana. She discovered her talent at Archbishop Porters Girls, Takoradi where she was the schools official DJ.  She has been doing it professionally for the past 7 years. She is known for being a radio DJ on YFM 107.9 playing on the Y Lounge with Ace Radio Host Jeremie between 7 – 10pm, from Mondays to Thursdays. She also doubles as a club DJ as well at Bella Roma, a popular bar & night club in Accra. She has rocked live concerts with Mario &Shontelle, The Red Lipstick (All female) Concert etc.

DJ Kess is not only known back home in Ghana, she represented Ghana at the Big Brother Africa House in South Africa 2011, playing jams that had the housemates raving and begging for more. After rocking in South Africa she performed, amongst others in Benin (Etisalat, Concert 2012), Nigeria (Copa Coca Cola, 2012) and Liberia (DJ Kess LIVE at Club Dejavu, 2012).

The African Global DJ Awards winners will be decided by a panel of judges (along with popular votes on the website) likely to be headed by Nigeria’s legendary DJ Jimmy Jatt. The event will be hosted by Barbz of Big Brother Africa fame, Denrele of Channel O, Lerato, Ugandan rapper Navio, DJ Jam Jam from the United Kingdom and Adams Ibrahim of Nigeria’s Soundcity.

Ghanaian Hiplife singer A-Plus expresses his views on National issues



A-Plus
Controversial hiplife musician, Kwame Asare Obeng popularly known as A-Plus has said that Ghana is currently enjoying an atmosphere of freedom of speech than it did under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
The musician, known for his affection for the 2012 NPP flag bearer  Nana Akufo-Addo was of the view that Ghana had gone past the days where musicians and individuals were constantly threatened and harassed because of their political views and comments.
A thriving democracy
A-Plus, who recently released another controversial song My Last Coup D'état, told Myjoyonline.com in an interview that the situation has seen much improvement under the NDC administration and the improvement is a test case for the country's democracy.
Asked if he faced any intimidation after the release of My Last Coup D'état which touches on several issues – including the 2012 IEA debates, Ayariga coughs, the 2012 general elections, Akua Donkor and Dr Nduom's Tundra saga – A-Plus said he is “surprised by the attention” the song has received.
According to him, “Ghana has gone past phone call days where people are threatening you. All the phone calls that I had were very encouraging, people love what I do. Even some of the people I was talking about call me and we laughed over it.”
The laudable situation, he added, is “a test case for our new president, for our democracy. It makes me understand where we are democratically. It makes me understand the mindset of Ghanaian s at this point in time.”
“I can confidently say that it's better than when Kufuor was in power… Kufuor's was better than that of Rawlings so it keeps improving,” A-Plus stressed.
He said that, “After I worked for Nana Addo by extension the NPP, NDC won the election and they didn't come chasing any of us,” adding that musicians who endorsed Nana Addo have won awards and have also seem much improvements in their careers.
The musician noted that if a musician endorses a political party right now and he or she does make a hit, then “you yourself don't know how to make music. The politician won't change your career in anyway.”
He alleged that in 2007, when he released A Letter to Parliament, he received several phone calls, even from the Office of the President, “where people wanted to take me to court,” and considering the improvements, “where we are today, ...Ghana is better than what we had in 2007 in terms of democracy.”
Economic hardships not NDC's fault
Commenting on the current challenges – power outages, water rationing, increase in fuel and the shortage of gas – bedeviling the country, A-Plus said the NDC cannot take all the blame for the situation.
“All those who have ruled this country must bow down their heads in shame. We won't limit it to any particular government. It is something that is a disgrace to this country after 56 years [of independence] we don't have anything and we have never had anything,” he lamented.
“We must work hard to make sure it does not happen again,” he urged.
The Kufuor government had its ups and down, same with John Mahama's administration, he said but advised that the country should plan ahead to better the lot of Ghanaians.
Patronage of political songs
While many will say A-Plus is treading dangerously by doing political songs and the implications of not making commercial music sales, the artiste thinks otherwise.
“I have sold more CDs than most people who are making music today,” he said, adding, it is rather unfortunate that there is a dip in CD sales.
A-Plus, who has eleven political songs to his credit, released The Unexpected Wednesday. The song, he said, will tell Ghanaians why he released My Last Coup D'état.
Source:Myjoyonline.com