Charterhouse, organisers of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) have unveiled nominees for the 24th edition with Shatta Wale once again missing out.
Music lovers have called for the inclusion of Shatta Wale in VGMA following years of absence in the award schemes.
It would be recalled that Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy were banned by VGMAs board as a result of their scuffle on stage back in 2019. The ban was however lifted in 2022.
Stonebwoy showed interest and was welcomed back, however, Shatta Wale announced in a Facebook post his decision to exclude himself from the awards scheme with his then-manager, Bullgod, citing the constant disrespect from organizers as the root cause.
Shatta vowed never to partake in VGMA and has stuck to his decision despite calls by fans to settle his differences with the board.
Many say he is deserving of the Best Reggae/Dancehall Artiste title for his works and ability to release hit songs all year round.
"Upon sober reflections of events in recent times and having made broader consultations, I wish to announce that I will not be part of the Ghana Music Awards scheme going forward. God bless!" Shatta declared in his Facebook post when he officially parted ways with the VGMAs.
The leader of the Shatta Movement had the backing of his former manager when he boycotted the event.
"Shatta Wale will not attend the VGMA until VGMA come to apologize to him. They have consistently disrespected Shatta. If he decides to join the scheme again, I will concentrate on farming that will mean my journey with him will come to an end.
“He has been always overlooking the disrespect to support the culture but it won’t happen again until they apologize. They kept us in jail for a day for doing nothing, it’s sad and disrespectful," Bulldog said at the time.
In 2023, Robert Klah, the Public Relations Officer of Charterhouse, organizers of VGMA disclosed in an interview on Hitz FM that Stonebwoy showed interest, the reason they were able to work with him.
“The scheme is in such a way that you need to be able to show interest, to be a part of the scheme, once you show interest, we will work with you. The interest can be in the form that you are filing or giving consent. So, Stonebwoy showed interest and we worked with him,” Klah explained.
The 24th VGMA comes off on May 13, 2023. Eight deserving artistes, Black Sherif, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, King Promise, Camidoh, KiDi, Piesie Esther and Joe Mettle are competing for the ultimate title as the 'Artiste of the Year'.
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Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale