Brenda Fassie billed to perform @ GMA 2004 As you read this, Record Labels are planning how to celebrate their winning acts. Artistes billed on the main show are fiercely putting finishing touches to their stage works (having learnt that South African music superstar Brenda Fassie is the gal to beat); and the too -sure nominees, preparing their acceptance speeches in case, luckily enough, they got chosen. Meanwhile, they?re also very aware that four other persons are thinking alike.
Let's start with the losing sheet. For the first time on this sheet, a huge musician is likely to fall. So far any year he?s nominated, he never went home minus at least three awards. (In 2000 he grabbed 5). This year, Daddy Lumba, unfortunately, may be the most disappointed. Why? Because with five nominations, the [only] slot he?s most likely to pick home is the Contemporary Highlife Album. Even that he must be extremely lucky to have appeared in a category full of relatively weak highlife albums: Nana Fynn's ?Dokodoko? and Nana Tuffour's ?Abeiku?.
Sandra Oduro Next on the list, are ever promising gospel artistes Sandra Oduro and Christiana Love of Holy Ghost International. I personally think that it wouldn?t be too much to honour Sandra Oduro as the New Artiste of the Year, but trust me, this category will surely go to a hip-life artiste. And won?t Tinny curse his stars for going home minus this very one? Of course, hip-lifers take their promotions and live performances a little more serious hence become more popular in the mainstream compared to their Gospel counterparts. But I think that Sandra's hit songs 'Gye Me' and album title track 'Yesu Ayonkofa' deserve more than the nominations she got. Another Sandra track 'Meda W?ase' is been doing well for sometime now.
Christiana Love (Holy Ghost International) may be the unluckiest sacred-lyricist on earth today. Her very impressive album '?Adenti Na Woresu Yi' has the title track (?Adenti Na Woresu Yi'), ?Meye Onyame Ba? and ?Yesu Mogya? as its three hottest cuts. And by all standards sales were and still highly superb. One music critic commented that if one should enter ten local homes anywhere in Ghana today, it's very likely that they would find four that own a Christiana Love tape. In fact he concluded that Christiana?s hit song ?Meye Onyame Ba? nearly replaced our national anthem sometime late last year. So far
I'm yet to hear a good reason why these two artistes (or Christiana especially) never had the chance to rub shoulders in the overall Song of the Year and Album of the Year slots. Having missed the big slots, I think Christiana Love deserves the Gospel Song of the Year and Gospel Album of the Year. Daughters of Glorious Jesus' ?Aseda? which is highly tipped to dominate the Gosple categories has only the title track and ?Brebrebeyi? as its most popular hits. 'Wo Ntaban' isn?t so popular.
Obrafour In 2001 even when he was nominated five times, he managed to pick just one, Hip-life Rap Song of the Year with Pae Mu Ka's hit song ?Yaa Nom?. This year, Obrafour is on his way to registering yet another night of disappointment. Not through his fault, though. But for the wrong choice of track for nominations this year, Obrafour would have easily niched his long-deserved acknowledgment. He's released two albums in less than twelve months and both fall within the 2003 nomination period. Between the two albums, the following songs; ?Ntitiepa?, ?Oye Ohene?, ?Oye Ohene remix? and ?Adeefode? made very good impact. Hence no matter how the night goes, Obrafour would leave for Taifa more disappointed than he came. And though he may not be as stage perfect as V.I.P or Slim Busterr, he wouldn't disappoint you, either. So I didn't understand why his name never appeared in the Artist of the Year category.
Now to those artistes who are most likely to laugh at the very right sides of their mouths. Slim Busterr has one of the best choreography on the stage but who goes beyond just tight dance steps; him or V.I.P? V.I.P, Of course. Lazy, Promzy and Prodigal just back from their concerts in London on Independence Day are more than sure of grabbing the most lucrative and expensive Artiste of the Year slot. And if they do, South Africa, prepare for our answer to the Outcasts.
Also, I won't be at all surprised if any of the three: ?Oye Ohene remix?- Obrafour, ?Meyere Ne Me Mpena?- Okomfo or ?Ahomka Wo Mu?- V.I.P, wins the Hip-life Song of the Year. It will be very difficult to measure which of the three songs did best last year. However, don't be a little bit surprised if V.I.P seals this one too. For its sister category, Hip-life Album of the Year, I can bet my last pen on Okomfo's 'Metoaso'. It has more hit tracks than any of the two acts?. Okomfour's sophomore album can boast of ?Meyere Ne Me Mpena?, ?Boys Boys?, ?Ahwedee Abena? and ?Ofie Nipa?. All four are still on day and night-time radio; still playing in the nightclubs, making the request lists at parties of all qualities. So don't be surprised at all if same Okomfour grabs the overall Album of the Year. For Obrafour, ?Tofa?, had three not-so popular tracks on air, and they have been taken off air some plenty months ago. Immediately ?Ntetiepa? landed. So Obrafour must be surprised [himself] to win any of the Album categories.
For V.I.P, though ?Ahomka Wo Mu? could boast of a record five hits, permit me to rather call them future hits. Apart from ?Ahomka Wo Mu?, the album has ?Sere Kakra?, ?Sisi Na Adie Wom?, Hausa flav?d ?Ko-Oho? and hip-hop spirited ?Besin?. Given some few more weeks, they would all be very popular enough to make the album a potential award winner. But for now, it's Okomfour's time. Then again, V.I.P could still be a threat to Okomfour and Obrafour given that the public voting which constitutes 40% of this decision may turn largely in favour of the act and not the song in question.
The other big fishes in the Album of the year category unfortunately have just one or two hits on their respective albums. Big boy Daddy Lumba's ?Mema Afa Wo Trim Ne? has only ?A-Plus? and ?Adepa Hye Adepa Mu? as very popular tunes. Nana Tuffour has ?Abeiku? and one other popular song. Hence Lumba is likely to win the Highlife Album of the Year.
Kwaadee The overall biggest Song of the Year, to many, will be the most competitive. For me, I think it will not be as competitive as the Hip-life Song of the Year. The award could go to one of the following four: ?Abeiku? (Nana Tufour), ?Meyere Ne Mpena? (Okomfour Kwadee), ?Ahomka Wo Mu? and ?Aye Fe Notse? (King David). Among these four, I can only see 'Abeiku' and 'Aye Fe Notse' riding to the very top. The other two are just good hip-life tracks but do not cut across wider musical tastes. And even between Nana Tufour and King David, I think ?Aye Fe Notse? cuts across a larger musical hearts than ?Abeiku?. I'm basing this judgement on grounds that Daughters of Glorious Jesus' 'Brebrebeyi? never finds itself in the top four of this category. If it does, I won't be surprised if GMA 2004 will becomes the first time a gospel song picks the overall winner.
Finally, comparing this year's GMA to the last four, it is very likely that the winnings may follow the trend of the last two editions, where no individual act/group sweeps more than four awards. The highest number of awards an artist is likely to sweep on Saturday would be three. And naming names, V.I.P, Okomfour and Daughters of Glorious Jesus may lead the pack. King David and Obrafour may follow. If it goes any other way, GMA 2004 may be described as one with many ?surprises? instead of the overly hyped ?thrills? you hear every other hour on a radio and TV screen near you. If you visit this site on Sunday, March 14, you would see the full list of the GMA 2004 winners.
Brenda Fassie billed to perform @ GMA 2004 As you read this, Record Labels are planning how to celebrate their winning acts. Artistes billed on the main show are fiercely putting finishing touches to their stage works (having learnt that South African music superstar Brenda Fassie is the gal to beat); and the too -sure nominees, preparing their acceptance speeches in case, luckily enough, they got chosen. Meanwhile, they?re also very aware that four other persons are thinking alike.
Let's start with the losing sheet. For the first time on this sheet, a huge musician is likely to fall. So far any year he?s nominated, he never went home minus at least three awards. (In 2000 he grabbed 5). This year, Daddy Lumba, unfortunately, may be the most disappointed. Why? Because with five nominations, the [only] slot he?s most likely to pick home is the Contemporary Highlife Album. Even that he must be extremely lucky to have appeared in a category full of relatively weak highlife albums: Nana Fynn's ?Dokodoko? and Nana Tuffour's ?Abeiku?.
Sandra Oduro Next on the list, are ever promising gospel artistes Sandra Oduro and Christiana Love of Holy Ghost International. I personally think that it wouldn?t be too much to honour Sandra Oduro as the New Artiste of the Year, but trust me, this category will surely go to a hip-life artiste. And won?t Tinny curse his stars for going home minus this very one? Of course, hip-lifers take their promotions and live performances a little more serious hence become more popular in the mainstream compared to their Gospel counterparts. But I think that Sandra's hit songs 'Gye Me' and album title track 'Yesu Ayonkofa' deserve more than the nominations she got. Another Sandra track 'Meda W?ase' is been doing well for sometime now.
Christiana Love (Holy Ghost International) may be the unluckiest sacred-lyricist on earth today. Her very impressive album '?Adenti Na Woresu Yi' has the title track (?Adenti Na Woresu Yi'), ?Meye Onyame Ba? and ?Yesu Mogya? as its three hottest cuts. And by all standards sales were and still highly superb. One music critic commented that if one should enter ten local homes anywhere in Ghana today, it's very likely that they would find four that own a Christiana Love tape. In fact he concluded that Christiana?s hit song ?Meye Onyame Ba? nearly replaced our national anthem sometime late last year. So far
I'm yet to hear a good reason why these two artistes (or Christiana especially) never had the chance to rub shoulders in the overall Song of the Year and Album of the Year slots. Having missed the big slots, I think Christiana Love deserves the Gospel Song of the Year and Gospel Album of the Year. Daughters of Glorious Jesus' ?Aseda? which is highly tipped to dominate the Gosple categories has only the title track and ?Brebrebeyi? as its most popular hits. 'Wo Ntaban' isn?t so popular.
Obrafour In 2001 even when he was nominated five times, he managed to pick just one, Hip-life Rap Song of the Year with Pae Mu Ka's hit song ?Yaa Nom?. This year, Obrafour is on his way to registering yet another night of disappointment. Not through his fault, though. But for the wrong choice of track for nominations this year, Obrafour would have easily niched his long-deserved acknowledgment. He's released two albums in less than twelve months and both fall within the 2003 nomination period. Between the two albums, the following songs; ?Ntitiepa?, ?Oye Ohene?, ?Oye Ohene remix? and ?Adeefode? made very good impact. Hence no matter how the night goes, Obrafour would leave for Taifa more disappointed than he came. And though he may not be as stage perfect as V.I.P or Slim Busterr, he wouldn't disappoint you, either. So I didn't understand why his name never appeared in the Artist of the Year category.
Now to those artistes who are most likely to laugh at the very right sides of their mouths. Slim Busterr has one of the best choreography on the stage but who goes beyond just tight dance steps; him or V.I.P? V.I.P, Of course. Lazy, Promzy and Prodigal just back from their concerts in London on Independence Day are more than sure of grabbing the most lucrative and expensive Artiste of the Year slot. And if they do, South Africa, prepare for our answer to the Outcasts.
Also, I won't be at all surprised if any of the three: ?Oye Ohene remix?- Obrafour, ?Meyere Ne Me Mpena?- Okomfo or ?Ahomka Wo Mu?- V.I.P, wins the Hip-life Song of the Year. It will be very difficult to measure which of the three songs did best last year. However, don't be a little bit surprised if V.I.P seals this one too. For its sister category, Hip-life Album of the Year, I can bet my last pen on Okomfo's 'Metoaso'. It has more hit tracks than any of the two acts?. Okomfour's sophomore album can boast of ?Meyere Ne Me Mpena?, ?Boys Boys?, ?Ahwedee Abena? and ?Ofie Nipa?. All four are still on day and night-time radio; still playing in the nightclubs, making the request lists at parties of all qualities. So don't be surprised at all if same Okomfour grabs the overall Album of the Year. For Obrafour, ?Tofa?, had three not-so popular tracks on air, and they have been taken off air some plenty months ago. Immediately ?Ntetiepa? landed. So Obrafour must be surprised [himself] to win any of the Album categories.
For V.I.P, though ?Ahomka Wo Mu? could boast of a record five hits, permit me to rather call them future hits. Apart from ?Ahomka Wo Mu?, the album has ?Sere Kakra?, ?Sisi Na Adie Wom?, Hausa flav?d ?Ko-Oho? and hip-hop spirited ?Besin?. Given some few more weeks, they would all be very popular enough to make the album a potential award winner. But for now, it's Okomfour's time. Then again, V.I.P could still be a threat to Okomfour and Obrafour given that the public voting which constitutes 40% of this decision may turn largely in favour of the act and not the song in question.
The other big fishes in the Album of the year category unfortunately have just one or two hits on their respective albums. Big boy Daddy Lumba's ?Mema Afa Wo Trim Ne? has only ?A-Plus? and ?Adepa Hye Adepa Mu? as very popular tunes. Nana Tuffour has ?Abeiku? and one other popular song. Hence Lumba is likely to win the Highlife Album of the Year.
Kwaadee The overall biggest Song of the Year, to many, will be the most competitive. For me, I think it will not be as competitive as the Hip-life Song of the Year. The award could go to one of the following four: ?Abeiku? (Nana Tufour), ?Meyere Ne Mpena? (Okomfour Kwadee), ?Ahomka Wo Mu? and ?Aye Fe Notse? (King David). Among these four, I can only see 'Abeiku' and 'Aye Fe Notse' riding to the very top. The other two are just good hip-life tracks but do not cut across wider musical tastes. And even between Nana Tufour and King David, I think ?Aye Fe Notse? cuts across a larger musical hearts than ?Abeiku?. I'm basing this judgement on grounds that Daughters of Glorious Jesus' 'Brebrebeyi? never finds itself in the top four of this category. If it does, I won't be surprised if GMA 2004 will becomes the first time a gospel song picks the overall winner.
Finally, comparing this year's GMA to the last four, it is very likely that the winnings may follow the trend of the last two editions, where no individual act/group sweeps more than four awards. The highest number of awards an artist is likely to sweep on Saturday would be three. And naming names, V.I.P, Okomfour and Daughters of Glorious Jesus may lead the pack. King David and Obrafour may follow. If it goes any other way, GMA 2004 may be described as one with many ?surprises? instead of the overly hyped ?thrills? you hear every other hour on a radio and TV screen near you. If you visit this site on Sunday, March 14, you would see the full list of the GMA 2004 winners.
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