Many Ghanaians got tired of their beef on May 19 this year after the brawling ‘best friends’ - Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale - got patrons of the 20th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards terrified and organizers displeased when the former pulled out a gun on stage.
Four months on, the airwaves seem to be somewhat clear of their everyday ‘hot news’. Entertainment critic, Michael Ola, touched on the seeming quiet from both artistes in recent times saying he believed the kind of attention, stories and topics discussed about their brands appear to have changed direction and made them “irrelevant” after their public reunion.
“Beefing is good. Ghana for years has been involved in non-violence where you get into a lyrical war, but Dancehall came. Artistes just want to fight and that is not what we need. If you check the industry now, we used to have a Stonebwoy and Shatta beef that was keeping the industry super interesting and active. All the time commentators have something to say and it was also good for their brands because their internet mentions were going high,” he told GhanaWeb in an interview.
"They are still on top of their respective games, no doubt, and are doing everything possible to keep their promise to Ghanaians amidst putting up good behavior over some months since the epic incident," he added.
However, Michael Ola believes Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale’s reunion has brought some boredom in the entertainment fraternity.
Meanwhile, celebrated musician, Akosua Agyapong, disagrees with Ola's assertion and believes beefing has crippled the industry instead of promoting it.
“‘Beefs' are full of insults and personal attacks and it shouldn’t be encouraged. I don’t see why an artiste will hit on the other purposely because you need attention. I’ll use Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy as an example, look at how they disgraced Ghana at this year’s VGMA’s. What did they lose after smoking a peace pipe, the beef is not needed, what is important is producing good music," she told GhanaWeb in an interview.
Akosua Agyapong, who blamed GHAMRO, MUSIGA for not being “competent” enough to handle the situation between the beefing musicians, said most of the known artistes turn to “fight” each other because they are not getting enough money as they expect.
"I will blame GHAMRO for all this beefing and frustrations. If they give musicians their royalties I don’t think they will beef. Most of these young artistes tend to fight each other because GHAMRO is cheating them. MUSIGA, on the other hand, is not really doing anything possible to prevent it,” she added.
According to Akosua, 'beefs' “taint” artistes’ brands rather than push their talents.
But, Ola believes show business is all about beefing since it creates international recognition and also serves as a means for most artistes to stay relevant.
He claims Shatta Wale would not have been identified and selected by Beyonce for her Lion King Album if the beef hadn’t exposed him. Adding that beefing helps promote artiste brands more than mere release of songs and performances.
Stonebwoy – Shatta Wale VGMAs Chaos
The two dancehall artistes, who have huge following in the entertainment industry, engaged in a brawl that disrupted the VGMA’s 2019 which was held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) in May.
Shatta Wale and his entourage thronged the stage whilst Stonebwoy was receiving the dancehall artiste of the year award during the event.
Some of his followers had claimed that he wanted to go on stage to ‘congratulate’ Stonebwoy, but many rather blamed Charterhouse for the incompetent manner in which it handled the entire event.
Police Charges
Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale have been charged with offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace, while Stonebwoy is facing another charge of displaying a weapon in public place without permission.
Police sources revealed that the gun he allegedly pulled on the VGMAs stage was an Australian gun INFK 158 with butt number AA792002017.
Entertainment Critic, Michael Ola