Ghanaian alternative music artiste, Wiyala, has addressed the recent controversy surrounding the positioning of her picture on a flyer for an upcoming show, emphasising that her intention was not to create hype or stir controversy.
This comes after a flyer for the upcoming "Safari Fest" show, scheduled for January 1, 2024 was released. The flyer featured Samini, Kuami Eugene, Fancy Gadam, and Wiyaala. However, Wiyaala was placed behind the other acts in on the flyer.
This didn't go down well with the versatile artiste, who took to her social media to call for her image to be positioned correctly as she was not a back up artiste.
In an interview with Hitz FM on December 6, Wiyala clarified her stance, stating that she would hype up the show in her own way and would not resort to publicity stunts to garner for her show.
"It is not a strategy to hype the program. If I'm going to hype a program, I'll do the right thing where I do the usual hyping. I'm not one of the artists who like to use controversial like beefing to hype my program. I don't need that. I've never used that. But I've always managed to sell out my shows wherever I go," she said.
Wiyala stressed that her concern was about fair representation, stating that she was not a backup artiste nor a supporting one and thus, deserved to be equal to all other artists on the flyer.
"I am not a backup artiste and I'm not even a supporting act for this. . This is what we do here. If I go to Tamale or I go to a Kwame Eugene show and it's their show and they put me in a corner, it's very understandable. It is artistic impression of what is going to take place. All of us have worked hard. I'm not disrespecting Kuami Eugene or Fancy Gadam but If it was the reverse, do you think they'd both be happy?" she quizzed.
She, however, acknowledged Samini's apology and clarified her relationship with him, saying she was not upset with him since he wasn’t responsible for the flyer’s design.
"I'm not upset with Samini. Samini is not responsible for the poster. It wasn't from his company. He also just saw it because I posted, and like I said, Samini is my big brother," she said.
Wiyala, who is also a graphic designer, stressed the importance of artistic expression in posters and the need for respect in representing artists. She urged event organizers to consider the impact of poster design, saying that putting her name or picture in such a position was denigrating her position as a formidable artiste in the Ghana music industry.
"I'm saying maybe the person who did the design is not an artistic person. He didn't do a great job or she didn't do a great job because they don't know the message. And I don't want to go tell them how to do their job. They should know. And they should also do research when they are making posters. Put respect on my name and place me where I'm supposed to be. Don't put me at the back in a small corner like that because that speaks a lot," she said.
ID/NOQ
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Wiyaala