Charter House rebuts Nacy’s claims over who wins Artiste of the Year

Head of Media, Brands and Communication for Charter House, George Quaye has refuted allegation by Nacy, leader of gospel music group No Tribe that no gospel musician has been able to win Artiste of the Year at the annual Ghana Music Awards because organizers and sponsors most often need artists who can attract huge crowds to the after party mostly held in the club.

George Quaye in an interview with Abrantepa on Radio Univers’ mid-morning show, Brunch2Lunch said, “The after party is opened to the general public. It is not compulsory for the Artiste of the Year or a winner of any category to attend. There is nothing that binds any artiste to attend the after party. It has been a while a highlife and traditional artistes won.

"Until Shatta Wale won, it had been a while a reggae/dancehall artiste won. We cannot just focus per se on gospel. To merit that category and even win it, the artiste in the year under review must be exceptional”.

He noted that in time past, gospel artistes came close to winning the coveted award for the night because they really were competing with the secular musicians in all angles. And, even though, the current crop is doing well, their impact is not much felt in the industry.

“Going back to the days of Kwaku Gyasi, Seth Frimpong and the likes, their impact was very commendable and noticeable. In fact, their songs were so popular that you enter a night club and you hear the songs being played there. Today, our gospel musicians are trying, but they are not cutting across as much as they need to. They are not really competing. They are competing in their own space.”