Blakk Rasta fires at Ghana Music Awards again

Come 10th April, 2010, the Ghanaian music industry will celebrate its most accomplished and successful artists for the year 2009, but reggae star, Blakk Rasta will not partake in the Ghana Music Awards ceremony. Not only will he not attend, but he’ll also do his best to enlighten audiences about the “Reggae Song of the Year” category, as Ghana Music.com can confirm.

Three days after Charter House released the nomination list of the 11th Ghana Music Awards, Blakk Rasta openly looks at the Reggae Song of the Year category.

According to Blakk Rasta, “Mama Africa by Black Prophet has been nominated two times. I was one of the first DJs that played the song five years ago. They did another error last year by nominating two songs of Black Prophet titled ‘Doubting Me’” and ‘Mama Africa’ and didn’t know which title went to which song.

When Ghana Music.com crossed checked from popular music download sites like iTunes and Cdbaby, it can be confirmed that the ‘Mama Africa’ was released in 2006 on the "Legal Stranger" album and that Black Prophet has a new album titled "Prophecy" released in 2009 which had no song nominated from it.

Blakk Rasta is so disappointed and further continues to say this is the biggest insult to the Ghanaian music.

Blakk Rasta says, Kojo Antwi dropped his album last year around December which has lasted about three months on the market. “It’s a shame and the song, ‘Adiepena’ does not merit the nomination. This clearly gives you an idea that the song does not fall in the music calendar of GMA".

He adds that “no one has heard Wutah’s ‘Jay Will Be There’. I have only played it on my radio show once. No one knows it, period”.

Blakk Rasta’s comments come on the heels of those by several musicians like Kwaw Kese who has criticized the selection committee of being biased.

Blakk Rasta says he intensely told Charter House not to ever nominate his works in Ghana Music Awards again. “Kojo Antwi has been on my radio show to say that he doesn’t want his works included in GMA, others like Kiki (Becca’s manager), Daddy Lumba and Mzbel has followed up to what I have done”, he said.

Blakk Rasta said to Ghana Music.com that Ghana Music Awards should be scrapped and described many of the acts nominated at this year's ceremony as "an embarrassment.".

In a lengthy phone conversation with us (Ghana Music.com), he continued that “Samini’s Trigger, Stonebwoy’s ‘’Hills & Valley’, Kyiken’s ‘Dubba Dubba’ and Becca’s ‘Daa Ke Daa’ reggae version could have been placed in the Reggae Song of the Year category”.

Blakk Rasta says he couldn’t “care less” about the Ghana Music Awards because they mean nothing as to the real value of an artist and that is he is even invited he won’t go.

“The ‘Barack Obama’ hitmaker last year expressed his distaste for last year’s Ghana Music Awards where he labeled Charter House as a ‘criminal organization’ to which he was disqualified for his insulting manners by the Planning Committee.

Blakk Rasta has rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s biggest reggae and dancehall greats from Jamaica, including, Capleton, Elephant Man, Kalli Bwoy, Zed, Rita Marley, Mutabaruka, Etana, I-Three and the Bob Marley Family. His song ‘Barack Obama’ has received rave rotation airplay on international media networks such as the BBC, CNN and Deutsche Welle, as well as reviews in New York Times and hundreds of tabloids across the world.