Big In Ghana Tour(Kumasi&Accra)

Of late dier I am trying, anaa? I have been able to post regularly, yes, I do, and I love every minute of it. All my previous posts are worth reading so do well to go back into time and just enjoy. Finally the Big In Ghana tour came to an end on Saturday 1st September, 2012 with the biggest concert at the Holy Gardens, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra. We all knew that Accra’s version was going to be the biggest and our thoughts came to life. I have already told you guys about the Takoradi and Tema versions of the concert, I am left with Kumasi and Accra then my job is done.

Kumasi was awesome, the people and the energy. We got there at 2:30 on Thursday 30th august, 2012 and it was straight to business after we checked into our hotel called the Promised Land (I dey feel the hotel ein name waa). Wanlov and Mensa went straight to Kapital Radio to be interviewed by DJ NY, one of the DJs who have given my spoken word album, Photosentences loads of love in Kumasi. The interview was awesome, it gave us a good welcome to Kumasi. But charley, on the real, Kumasi traffic is on another level ooo… No lie!! Not much was done on the Thursday apart from the fufu I ate with Mensa at that place and I remember the guy who came to ‘short’ us. He didn’t show mercy on our fufu at all, the guy chop oo…

On the morning of the day for the Kumasi version of the Big In Ghana Tour, Mensa and I went to buy some hausa koko in the morning paa and charley, this koko was very brown, I mean deep brown, far from the ones we have in Accra and I think I know why Kumasi makes her koko very brown. Nobody should ask me. Anyway, let me fast forward to the show itself but before, I really enjoyed interviewing some of the artists on Friday morning. I did what happened in Takoradi again, yes; I entered each and every room with no ‘permit’. The concert took place at the Cultural Centre in Kumasi and I had to interview some people there as the stage was been put together. I interviewed Pim of AfricanUnsigned with @simpol_tinz, we also spoke to the music director, Mr Sewor and a couple of other people. Show started a little bit late as usual and Efya couldn’t make it to Kumasi but things went smoothly. The four artists/contestants, Anas, Amoakohene, NT4 and Bright rocked the stage after an Azonto Competition and some raps by people who were selected from the crowd. I really love the Big In Ghana stage charley, no mistake kraa, on point!! Bradaz passed through to spice up the whole thing and Blacks also came on stage to do some things, they are 2 young guys and charle, I feel them roff.

Yaa Pono was killing it on stage, he did a couple of songs, about 5 and some freestyles. Charle, the crowd was feeling him!! It’s funny how the people know his songs because the radio hardly shows him love, but the crowd knew the words to most of his songs. So, hmmm, he wasn’t done yet, he was going to do more songs and then, fui!, The generator set decided to go off. Oh charley, wey yawa this?? The guy didn’t buy enough fuel for the generator, he pocketed some of the money. This is what I wanted to do to him-lay him on a bed of roses in the sun and smear shit on him charle. Dude didn’t try but that didn’t stop us even though a section of the crowd had dispersed. The lights came back on and the foknbois took the stage. Honestly, nothing stopped them, ignoring the fact that most of the people were gone, they put up a massive show and when I say massive, I mean massive!! Sankwas Bois (@simpol_tinz and mutombo) also went on stage to do some tunes charle. It was awesome!! I will never forget Kumasi.

We went to sleep at the Promise Land late and woke up around 7am to move back to Accra in order prepare for the Accra version that evening, charle, just imagine, we were all tired. And I dread travelling because I have ‘car-sickness’. I always want to throw up and I feel uneasy all the time, the feeling is so rude but on our way to Kumasi I found a remedy, well wanlov did and it is magic. They were teasing me and Wanlov gave me some tangerine peels to squeeze into my nostrils, In that state, I would do anything just to feel better so I did it and guess what, all what I was feeling vanished one time. I swear down!! So at every stop, I got some tangerines. Simple!!

The Accra concert was huge, the energy was awesome and the people were ‘responsive’. Efya was present here and she rocked the stage with her tunes, this lady is always on point. Yaa Pono has been killing it throughout this tour and here was no different. But the host, PY was talking too much, I guess it is all because of the crowd. The performance from the foknbois was fit for a climax and I know all those who were present will go home with something to tell and it will stay in their memory for a long time.

Enough love to Bavaria for making this possible, AfricanUnsigned, Kasapreko, Pidgen Music and all those who played a part to make this tour fruitful. It was awesome! As for the pictures dier, I have plenty on my facebook so add me (mutombodapoet Percy) and check out my tumblr too- mutombodapoet.tumblr.com

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!!

Youtube Ghana Launch

21-July-2012 was that other day. I had a solemn morning and also a calm early morning and then around 2pm, I had to meet Wanlov and Mensa so we go to the Youtube Ghana launch at Citizen Kofi. We ‘chopped’ fufu first at a base around Asylum Down, I hadn’t eaten the whole day so I did justice to the fufu.
We were to perform at this launch and in my mind, I thought it would be fit to perform something around the theme ‘YOUTUBE’ but I had nothing like that. The notice came a little late so I didn’t have that time to write something down.
The launch was graced by familiar faces, people in the media and all. A youtube representative who came down from Spain took audience through the ‘youtube journey’, thus, where they started to where they are now. Some of the figures he mentioned was baffling to me especially the videos people watch on youtube daily. I think the figure was 4 billion. So why don’t people watch my videos then? Anyway, here is my youtube channel-www.youtube.com/mutombogh. He also told us about how people are using youtube to make a name for themselves and stuff like that. It was an awesome presentation even though I wasn’t attentively.
I took to the stage and did a spoken word performance, took them down memory lane to the period where youtube wasn’t around and told the audience how every person is capable of being a star nowadays because of youtube. Those days, it was just the television but now we can shoot a video with our phones and other video gadgets and just upload on youtube. Other youtube reps came to basically talk about how people are using youtube and how people can use youtube to their benefit. The beautiful songstress, Efya took the stage to perform a song and after, XO Senavoe joined her on stage to do a song for mothers. It was awesome.
What basically went down was how to use youtube for results and at a point, five people were engaged in a short interview. This was basically about when they started using this website and how beneficial it has been to them. This panel included Ameyaw Debrah and my Pidgen Music Label boss, Panji ANOFF. The Fokn Bois finally performed and as usual, they were so fokn on stage. They force the host to say the name ‘FOKN’ and Estelle struggled a little before saying this.
It was a good launch and we welcome YOUTUBE GHANA. You see, I forgot that Carlos Sekyi came to talk and represent the Ghana Music Union or something like that. He didn’t say anything proper and was dry charley. We were given a youtube bag with some youtube goodies and I am even using the portable mouse now. My thing is, why is it so necessary to have YOUTUBE GHANA (www.youtube.com.gh)? Like what difference will it make??
Pictures of this event can be found at mutombogh.tumblr.com

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.