Shatta Wale, the self-acclaimed dancehall king, has eulogised Beyoncé, the American singer and songwriter for the collaboration they made on her ‘Lion King’ album.
According to him, the American songstress came at a time when many Ghanaian industry players, whom he refers to as gatekeepers, saw him as a demon in the industry.
Speaking to Paul Adom-Otchere on Metro TV’s ‘Good Evening Ghana’ programme on Thursday, October 6, 2022, Charles Nii Armah Mensah, as he is known in private life indicated that if Beyoncé had not come at the time she did, he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.
“You see Beyoncé, it is God that sent her and mommy wherever you are, God bless you. Because I am the demon in my country but you came as my angel,” Shatta Wale told Paul Adom-Otchere.
To him, “if those opportunities had not gotten into my life, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.”
The ‘I know my level’ hitmaker kept mentioning the name of Mark Okraku Mantey, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts as one of the industry gatekeepers who tried as much as he could to block him from succeeding in the music industry.
“…musicians have been poor in Ghana ooo, we have seen musicians that have come and gone and come and gone, we always try to talk to them like this and they don’t even say their feelings. Me, my heart is worrying me, I want to get money…
“Do you know when Mark Okraku Mantey started blocking me? Started saying that I won’t make it, I won’t get anywhere in my life...?" Shatta Wale quizzed.
He recalled an instance where the deputy minister tried to talk him down on live radio, disclosing that he refused to respond to an interview on the radio and since then, Mark Okraku-Mantey who was then the Programmes Manager at Hitz said the station will create their own hero to rival Shatta Wale, in this instance, Stonebwoy.
“Mark Okraku Mantey is the problem of this whole music thing, they are deciding. When he was Programmes Manager at Hitz FM, he said on radio that because they were calling Shatta Wale for an interview and Shatta Wale didn’t come, so, they decided to create their own hero which was Stonebwoy…,” Shatta Wale alleged.
Watch this week's E-Forum below. This episode focuses on the death of Ekow Blankson.
Shatta Wale and Mark Okraku Mantey