Most musicians in Ghana have had their stage names changed with some of them benefiting from the act while others kill their careers with the names they later choose.
Such people who benefited from name switching include Batman who changed to Samini, Efya was formerly known as Jane, Ayigbe Edem changed to Edem and so did Bandana change into Shatta Wale.
Shatta Wale, in the days of Bandana went missing after releasing songs like “Moko ho”, Obaa Yaa and after ten years he comes back into the music scene with a new name “Shatta Wale” and the reason for the change of name is still best know to Shatta Wale born Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jnr.
In 2013, he released his first single “dancehall king” under the name Shatta Wale and the song spread like a wild fire through the country. The song made it into the charts.
Shatta Wale has channeled out a lot of songs releasing almost up to 100 songs last year. These hits include Kakai, Hol’ It, Obordobidi and many others and have gained him a fan based enough to make him the most popular celebrity in the country and they’re known to be the Shatta Movement Empire.
The name Shatta is slang in Jamaica which is believed to be translated as Gangster and “Wale” is an acronym he explains as “World Alerted Lyrical Entertainer”. Basically the name Shatta Wale means a Gangster who is a world alerted lyrical entertainer and this can reflect on his achievements with the latest addition being the Ghana Music Awards UK.
Shatta Wale recently posted Bandana on Facebook and it’s got people really thinking if Shatta Wale is going to back for his old name but speaking to a member from his camp, he assured Shatta Wale just want to remember the good old days and pay homage to how far and the effect the name Bandana has had on him over the years