Uncle Obama

Errm, this is just a quick one, I won’t talk plenty with this post. I guess you have all seen the Uncle Obama video by Sister Durbee. Yes you should because it was premiered last Friday at the Silver Lounge. Ah, it’s true, I was even the emcee that nice and it was fun. Don’t argue with me when I put info on my own blog. Why, did you create it for me? I beg, I beg.

If you have not watched it, I will add it to this post, maybe you have already seen it at the top, if not, then check the ‘below’. I was in that video too, I was/am Uncle Obama and as for my boogies, nobody should challenge. I remember when Deborah called on me that she wanted me to be the Uncle Obama in her video, I didn’t hesitate at all because I love that song and also for some other reason. I won’t tell you!!! Kokonsafuor!! Okay, let me be nice this time and tell you. The other reason was because, I wanted a free shirt from London. Yes, the t shirt I wore in the video was shipped from the UK by Deborah to be used in the video. She gave it to me like a month before the video, when the video was ready to be shot, the shirt had discoloured and was stretched. I wear am saaaa!!!

 

Anyway, the making of the video was fun, especially the market scene and I am very glad to be a part of Deborah’s first official video. I hope more will follow but I also dey wonder, will she be willing to perform when she is invited? I think she should because the ‘dance formation’(trying to spell chorography) and everything is on point. Imagine Sister Durbee on stage paa….

The Video Release Party was at the Silver Lounge on the 28^th of September and it was fun, you know that when I am the emcee…..world up!! People came not just to see the video but to see this handsome man do his dance(I shaa papa). There was ‘finger food’(I still don’t know why they call it finger food) which people were fingering like they were foreplaying before the real food, there were lots of drinks and come see the way @simpol_tinz was drinking, a teetotal like me tasted alcohol so just imagine. Deborah displayed her Bananazonto with her girls and did a few lines. The only people lost on the night were the foknbois but I know they were with us in spirit. DJ Just Ice did justice to the music and a big echo to Luu Vision.

If you ask me, I love the video, it’s a fun/jolly video and I can’t wait for it to start showing on TV. Check the video out!! 

Sarkodie's BET Award

 Hey! Charley I know I have been dull with this blog of mine, I am suppose to be posting every day. That is a personal promise I made when I started with this blog. Anyway, last week was very eventful, especially on Friday. I heard they have passed the law finally in Ghana. You can’t talk on your phone whilst driving; they said you can’t even use any headset at all and you always have to ensure you are wearing your seat belts. Failure will attract a fine and even a jail term. If you ask me, I think this is in the right direction but will these work in GHANA? The police like ‘bribe’ too much. Okada too has been banned!

Well, that is not what I want to talk about today, so let’s leave that for another day. Like I said earlier, last week was so eventful; one of the major activities that went on was the BET Award 2012 in America. I have been watching this award ceremony for time, I don’t recall watching any LIVE though because I don’t have cable, never had cable, so I always have to wait for the recorded tape from friends.

Yesterday, I had the chance to watch it with a friend and even before that, the internet gave me info about what actually went on, especially with our Ghanaian nominee, Sarkodie (What Else, To All My Hunnies On The Block). I really think that awarding him backstage was nonsense, it was yawa kraa!! I mean how? I am aware that some awards were given backstage and all, but Sarkodie is an international act, I mean INTERNATIONAL!! You make a young soul fly several miles across the ocean, in a plane to America only to give him a plaque backstage? What do you take us for, BET? But I blame Ghanaians, we have allowed all this to happen to us. We kowtow to anything that is International-‘BET is coming to Ghana, yaaaaay!!!!’.. We don’t sit back and even relax small kraa to think about what is on the table or what has gone on before, since it is international, it means it’s good. Yawa!!

Artists from Ghana are hungry for international recognition but are not ready to put out good works, all they want to say is, ‘I have been here and there!’ but you are putting out two by four music. We should sit back and work on our art and just see how these ‘INTERNATIONAL’ people will treat us. Let’s just try and see. They should have given Sarkodie some shine, he should have come on stage to ‘recite’ his acceptance speech for Jay Z etc to see him.*what else?*.okay, so I am thinking, what does INTERNATIONAL mean to BET? You see, only America is international to them and I would be grateful and very glad if we Ghanaians ditch these awards for some time. See how we treat international stars when they come to Ghana, do we get the same when we are outside? Kai!!

Watching the BET last nigh,t I was sad, confused and excited at the same time. I was sad because of my country Ghana, confused because you couldn’t tell if they were miming or not, but they were not miming and excited because I was watching something that was pleasing, beautiful. When is Ghana migrating from those plywood stages? I mean, haven’t we done that for long? Can’t we go a step ahead? Do people always have to walk from backstage and eventually fall because a carpet wasn’t laid well? When are we going to switch from using those 3 or 4 coloured bulbs and use better lightening system? I feel sad when people are all hyper when a concert/show/GMAs is coming up, you are not going to see anything different from the previous one. The same!! Artist come and mime to their songs and most of them don’t even mime right? When you ask why they mime, they will tell you how microphones fail in Ghana. Is this supposed to happen?

This post is getting long, I talk too much… but I hope things are checked for our own good. The entertainment industry is messy here and that is why BET do we yawa!!

I Am Grown And Sexy

 Rockstones Office, which is located behind the Police Headquarters, has been the chilling spot for tons of people in the past few years. I have been there so many times and it’s the only joint that I love to be, not because of Reggie Rockstone and not because I always get to enter free, its because of the environment and how relaxed the place is, especially if you go there early. Nice waiters and workers and yes, their waakye as well.

What I really want to focus on is what happens on Wednesdays at this joint. Grown and Sexy is a mid-week entertainment ‘thingy’ that goes on at Rockstones Office and it’s the best thing to ever happen to peeps that have nowhere to chill during the week. Grown and Sexy is more like an open mic where random people can get on the mic but each Wednesday has a special guest performer. And the most amazing thing is, every performance is backed by a band. This is where artists get to test their skills with a live band and I have seen a couple of acts flop because most of them do the miming thing all the time. Oh Ghana!!!

Rockstone’s Office is a place to be on Wednesdays because you also get to meet random people, make some connections and basically chill. I am mostly there on this day just to see people work the mic and I have performed there on so many Wednesdays doing my spoken word thing and sometimes messing with some rap lines with my homie, Simpol Tinz. I have seen so many artistes like Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Ben Brako, Kwawkese, Tinny, R2Bees, Mensa, Wanlov, Okyeame Kwame, Efya, Yaa Pono, Lady Jay, Zigi, EL etc perform there on Wednesdays and most of the times, the grandpa himself, Reggie Rockstone who is also the owner of the joint gets on the mic too.

Its hosted by KOD and I simply love the way he engages the audience and calls random people to the mic sing, rap or do anything. You will be surprised that, you get all this entertainment for free no matter how big the artiste is. All you have to do is to buy drinks, chill and watch live performances from stars from all over. Reggie should be recommended for creating something like this and to all those other joints, you are late!! We need to start getting innovative and try out different things. The ‘party this, party that’ is becoming much, let’s create charle. More vim to Grown and Sexy and I hope it stays around for a very long time, just like GBC.

Pay’oh’la!!

So I have been thinking. I have been thinking about a whole lot, especially when it comes to radio in Ghana. I can see a whole lot of them springing up frequently so I guess that sector is doing very well. I have had the chance to go on some on these stations for interviews etc and I will recommend most of them when it comes to programming. I also love the security system put in place and one station that comes to mind is radio gold 90.5.

I am not going to talk about programming, neither am I going to talk about their security and all that, but I want to touch on the help/support that they give local artistes when it comes to airplay. I am aware that there are so many artistes in this country who are struggling to make it. They don’t even get shows to perform for some ‘coins’ and it’s hard for them to put out a song since they face difficulty getting funds to take care of their studio time.

After going through all that to put out a song, a DJ/presenter will first take payola before playing your tune on the station/programme. This payola business has been with us from day one and I have personally heard artistes complain. I sometimes wonder why it has to be like this since the dj/presenter is getting content for his programme. Quiet recently, instead of taking money, they take all sort of things that will be of use to them like call credits, clothing and other items. When you listen closely to the radio, they mostly play songs from foreign artistes including Jay Z, Eminem, Rihanna, Asa and other well known stars. i know of several programmes where almost 90% of the songs they play are foreign. Let me take this chance to applaud KOD for his programme, African Safari.

I want to know something, do they take payola from these foreign artistes before playing their songs or they patronize so they can feel cool? I don’t think Jay Z or Eminem will pay a local dj/presenter to play his music. I might be wrong, I am sorry because some of them might have direct contact with these celebs. I am just saying!!!! Why do they take payola before playing songs from local artistes if you don’t take from foreign ones? Does that even look or sound right? Your country man has a track out and you take him money before you play, But play a foreign song for free…are you crazy????
When will Ghana even start paying royalties to her artistes? I am wondering when they will put that system in place so artistes can start enjoying life. This is happening in other countries and as far as I am concerned, our artistes need to benefit from this too. Ghanaians don’t buy cds, but listen to the radio a lot, this is how it is here so radio and tv stations should start paying artistes for playing their songs. Until a show comes up, the artistes is broke.

I really hope that one day Ghanaian artistes will start enjoying the fruit of their labour and get the necessary respect from these media people.