African-American musician, Akon has caused a stir among music lovers with his recent revelation that Sarkodie was truly signed on Konvict Music. Earlier in October 2013, he stated in an interview with Airtel Entertainment News on Drive Time on Joy FM that, they never closed the deal with Sarkodie meaning that the Ghanaian rapper was never signed to his record label.
Akon who is promoting his ‘Akonda’ Afrobeat album is currently in Ghana as part of the ‘Year of Return’ which has seen many African Diasporans in Ghana. In a press conference at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra, he stated that he will continue to promote and spearhead developments across Africa and also invest in artistes from Africa.
"Never closed (deal), it never started... we were working on it I was trying my best to make it happen but unfortunately it never materialized”, this was the statement made by Akon when he revealed that he never signed Sarkodie in 2013. However, these words from him contradicts the answer he gave when asked if Sarkodie was signed by Konvict Muzik at a press conference in Accra on December 29,2019.
According to the International R&B artiste, his record label, Konvict Muzik gave a platform to African musicians including Sarkodie and Wizkid. Quite interestingly, Sarkodie in a story published on GhanaWeb on December 10, 2011, stated that, “I am not signed. Akon endorsed Sarkodie”.
Akon who was questioned about Sarkodie’s response stated that, “It doesn’t matter, I am happy that he is where he is today. I think the success couldn’t happen even without the endorsement, so the key is to just appreciate what we’ve done for any artiste whether it is Sarkodie, P-Square or Wizkid…our job is to try to give and help people and expect nothing back in return. We never made a penny out of Sarkodie not one dime”
“I love him like my brother…I will still till this day will continue to help him because my goal is to look at the bigger picture make sure that every African artiste is well recognized and our culture is being represented properly out there so people can want to be a part of our culture in the future. I love Sarkodie…he is my man”.
He also advised Ghanaians to make a conscious effort in supporting and promoting artistes from the country to the rest of the world.
“If Ghanaians don’t promote their own artiste like how Nigerians promote their own artiste, it’s no secret…if you stay silent and you keep it within Ghana, it’s going to stay in Ghana. So, you got to promote your artiste, people that you believe in that can represent your country, let everybody know about that person…”.
Akon revealed that people in the music scene do not regard him as an African artiste adding that, it will be nice to receive an African award for the kind of music he does. He also made mention of a planned concert that will happen in Ghana in March 2020.
