Feature: Kwasi Ernest paid the heavy price for Joyce Blessing's 'Agye Boom'!

Today I am deviating a little from my usual subjects. I feel a bit angry, and I have to tell Joyce Blessing in the face that she is not being honest to her conscience.

The story has it that Joyce Blessing, the Ghanaian Gospel Musician, already wrote and composed the Heavy Price album, but did not have anyone to help her with production, management, and promotion.

Finally, Kwasi Ernest, a music producer, and promoter, offered to produce and manage her.

The story, as told, was that, Kwasi Ernest used his money to promote Joyce Blessing, to get to where she is at the moment. Even though there was no contract between the two parties, Kwasi Ernest went out of his way, bought a vehicle for Joyce Blessing, took her to driving school, took her on international performance tours, and finally when Joyce Blessing became famous, she dumped Kwasi Ernest.

I am not interested in the merits or the demerits of the flying issues; this article is based purely on the utterances of Joyce Blessing, and how she sought to, nearly completely, downplay the help she received from Kwasi Ernest, and the impact of that posture on benevolence in this country.

I watched Joyce Blessing, first on Delay Show, and then on UTV, and I shook my head as the video played. Trust me, those two interviews were so clear, as to why some rich people in this country fail to support young talents, or even if they do, they would love to sample them first, just in case they grow to become the same stalk of old.

Joyce, I will like to point to you, that, the more you tried to hide the guilt, the more I read between the lines, that you are simply being ungrateful, and untruthful. I love your music, especially Heavy Price, but this is too heavy a price to put on someone who took you from your unknown position, to now a world travelled person, someone who took you from a single room to a four bedroom apartment, paying for it himself, someone who took you to driving school, and bought your first car for you, Joyce, this is not inspiring.

I have watched the video of Kwasi Ernest shedding tears, and I am not sure if the emotions were related to his issues with you, but, honestly, I cried along with him, as his tears wore on. I will not be tempted to cite some personal experiences, but trust me, it is so painful to see people who you sacrificed so much for, and who later turned their back rudely at you, you see them and you regret not using your money to, taflatse, fart.

My sister, it takes a lot of money to push unknown artists. It takes a lot of strategic thinking, and planning, and time, to get your kinds of people to get to the top. As you admitted, you shot the first video, and put it on social media, but no one paid attention to it. That is because it was then not a product, it was only a song.

It takes a lot of lobbying, digging deep into network of friends to make a song a product, and takes a lot of effort to make you, the artist, into a brand. So it is certainly very painful when someone works to push you into a brand, and just when he is about to harvest his investment, gone, another person has signed you on, just like that.

Kwasi Ernest should have signed an agreement with you, and made sure that that agreement lasted for, at least, ten years. At that time, because you needed his help desperately, you would have signed anything he would have brought to you, and he would have been the person reaping off of the brand he has created.

Today the Heavy Price that Kwasi paid, has earned you “AgyeBoom”. But remember that time when Heavy Price had no price, and remember the first day you contacted him, when you might have even prayed to God, to grant you favor before him.

I got to know Dan Kweku Yeboah some three years ago when I decided to honor Mr. R. C. Ekem with a football competition. Mr. Ekem was the person who gave me my first employment opportunity, after Secondary School. That opportunity enabled me to save money towards my university education. I became the first person, in my family, to have ever worked in an office.

So on the twentieth anniversary year of working with Mr. Ekem, I decided to honor him, and that is what brought me closer to Dan Kweku Yeboah.

A few months ago I had an Agona Duakwa related business conversation with Kweku. That conversation lasted for only four minutes. By the time we were done, he had mentioned the name of Mr. Kojo Yankah seven good times, all in praise of him. Within the four minutes, I got to know that it was Kojo Yankah who paid his university education at UCC, it was Kojo Yankah who did this, it was Kojo Yankah who did that, and eventually Dan told me that he actually named his first daughter after Kojo Yankah, do you get the wisdom?

Dan Kweku Yeboah is now, arguably, the most influential sports Journalists in Ghana. He heads the sports team in the Despite Group. I expect that having attained this height, after several years of leaving the university, he should have forgotten the time when he needed Kojo Yankah the most. But no, the young man still feels heavily indebted to Mr. Yankah.

The pleasures of the world are many, what money and time can do for ones' self, are many. There are a lot of pleasurable bitters and beers out there to be consumed. There are a lot of heart-warming pink weathers out there to be stormed. We must never underestimate the value of the sacrifice people make when they have to give up their resources to support us when we find ourselves in need.

It must never be said that benevolence is met with contemptuous heart. Just because you are now successful, just because you are now standing on your feet, does not have to blind you to the moment of time when you desperately needed someone to rescue you. It should not make you forget the moment when you could have worshiped the benevolent person who helped you.

Universities and colleges are about to re-open. Secondary schools are about to re-open. There are hundreds of students who would be knocking at doors for help. I have right in front of me names of 11 university students whose fees I have to continue paying, within the next couple of weeks. I have right in front of me nearly 20 secondary school students whose fees I will have to pay within the next one month. By calculation, I have to cough out over GHC60,000 within the next two months to pay fees of students who have no relations with me.

Joyce what should I do? Should I use this money to buy myself a car? Should I buy treasury bills with this money? Should I use it to buy parcels of land for myself? You are a gospel singer, you are a woman of God, what should I do with my money? That money up there is about half of my personal income for the entire year, what should I do with it?

I say this, not because I have a lot to give out, but because I want to encourage others to give, and to support those who need help. Sometimes it takes a lot to give. There are people in this country who do not have, yet they sacrifice to support others, just for the sake of humanity.

So Joyce, whenever you feel you have arrived, whenever you feel the help you received is insignificant, whenever you feel that after all you could have done without that person who helped you, just think back, reverse the time, and trace yourself back into the same shoes you were wearing, the same spot you were standing, the same mental state you were in, the same ambitions you had when it was threatened, think back into how you used to admire those who had made it, think about your possible mentors at the time, think about those who you wished you had ever met, the dream you had to be like Cyndi Thompson, the dream you had when you wished you were like Esther Smith, think about all of these, and share a moment with yourself.

And when you are done, take a moment, to remember the thin line between you, as Joyce Blessing of yesterday, wishing to become the Joyce Blessing of today, and go back to Kwasi Ernest, and say sorry to him, and thereafter, keep your mouth shut!