Nii Ayite Hammond
Moments after many entertainment pundits had rebutted Nii Ayite Hammond’s ‘fact check’ on the annual Ghana Music Awards which said Joe Mettle was not the first Gospel act to be crowned Artiste of the Year, he has backtracked and accepted he goofed.
Nii Ayite Hammond who doubles as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the 2017 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and the chairman of the board on Monday morning sought to set the records straight as he thought news of Joe Mettle breaking the jinx was incorrect.
“Point of correction, Joe Mettle is not the first gospel Artiste to win the Artiste of the year but he is the first gospel Artiste to win the topmost award at the VGMA. Daughters of Glorious Jesus were the first gospel artiste to win the Artiste of the year in 2004.” his Facebook post read.
The post generated an outrage as some critics who have followed the scheme since its inception noted that the board chairman was rather distorting history.
Record shows that hiplife music group, VIP won the Artiste of the Year 2004; not Daughters of Glorious Jesus.
In all, VIP won five awards namely, Hip-life Artiste of the Year, Hip-life Album of the Year, Hip-life Song of the Year, Artiste of the Year and Song of the Year with their smash hit song, "Ahomka Wo Mu".
Daughters of Glorious Jesus however also bagged five awards. Their song ‘Bebrebeyi’ was adjudged Gospel Song of the Year while their album, ‘Aseda’ won the Gospel Album of the Year and Overall Album of the Year categories. Other categories won were Best Female Vocal Performance and Gospel Artiste of the Year.
After realizing he rather faulted, Nii Ayitey Hammond has apologized for post.
Joe Mettle beat E.L, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, MzVee, and Medikal to win the Overall Artiste of the Year. The ‘Onwanwani’ hit singer also beat Ogya Mensah, Afriyie, Akwaboah, Sonnie Badu, and Ernest Opoku to win the Best Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Joe Mettle crowned Artiste of the Year at 2017 VGMA
