Notable showdowns in Ghana's entertainment industry in 2023

Beef has been a constant staple in the cuisine of entertainment in Ghana. From the top major artistes in the country to the up-and-coming acts, everyone has dished out at some point or another.

While 2023 has been low in the amount of beef this year, some notable mentions have made the headlines in 2023.

1. Shatta Wale and Kwadwo Sheldon

Boiling over from 2022, Shatta Wale’s outburst at the Nigerian music community for their “Non-Support” of Ghanaian content led to a lot of backlash from Nigerians and Ghanaians alike. One major voice in the backlash was entertainment critic and YouTuber Kwadwo Sheldon, who did not hold back on his opinions on Shatta Wale.

This prompted several rebuttals from Shatta Wale and vice versa. The confrontation ended with Kwadwo Sheldon refusing to feature Shatta Wale on any content of his while Shatta Wale recorded a diss song for him.

2. Amerado and Medikal

Following his much-publicized beef with colleague, Lyrical Joe in 2022, Ghanaian rapper Amerado found himself in another controversy with rapper Medikal. Amerado, in a diss song, responded to a purported warning from Medikal criticizing his work and controversies.

Despite the criticism, Medikal maintains that he doesn't consider Amerado at his level, hence his lack of response. He added that any feud not benefiting him monetarily isn't worth his involvement. Despite these statements, Medikal denies downgrading Amerado and insists he has nothing against the rapper.

3. Samini vs Sarkodie

Reggae/Dancehall musician Samini in an interview publicly criticized rapper Sarkodie, accusing him of being ungrateful and disrespectful.

The conflict was sparked when Samini responded to a Twitter user's question about a potential collaboration with Sarkodie, expressing his disinterest in working with the rapper.

Samini had accused Sarkodie of failing to reciprocate favors, particularly highlighting an incident where Sarkodie ignored his request to feature on his 2021 Burning-EP.

On the other hand, Sarkodie appeared to be largely unaffected by Samini's comments. In a subtle reply on social media, Sarkodie stated that he wouldn’t be distracted and he was focused on chasing the bag.

4. Shatta Wale vs Stonebwoy

Shatta Wale jumped back into the trends again when he launched at fellow dancehall artiste Stonebwoy. This began when Shatta Wale, in September, announced his annual Freedom Wave concert scheduled for December 25 at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Things, however, took a twist when dancehall rival Stonebwoy also announced his Bhim concert + Ashiaman to the world + 5th Dimension Homecoming scheduled for December 23 at the Accra Sports stadium as well.

This infuriated Shatta Wale, who went on a tantrum, claiming that the time to set up for his show would not be enough and accusing Stonebwoy and other individuals of sabotage.

Later on, Shatta Wale’s PR manager, Sammy Flex, announced that the Freedom Wave concert had been canceled.

5. MOG Beatz vs Quables (DWP)

For the first time, the entertainment industry was treated to a beef between different sections. This time, it was music versus dance.

Music producer MOG Beatz had called out the popular Ghanaian dance group DWP Academy on Twitter, accusing them of failing to fulfill a campaign agreement after he had made full payment to the group.

According to exchanges between MOG and the manager of DWP, Quables on X, the group had been paid to post a dance video on social media to promote a song but failed to do so after receiving payment. MOG had called out Quables for failing to respond to his messages about the status of the campaign.

In response, Quables had clarified that all members of the group except for Afronita, a lead member of DWP, had fulfilled their obligations by posting their videos on social media. He further pointed out that the agreement was for 12 members of the group to share the dance video, which was more than the said number had done.

Later on, Afronita released her dance video, still to the dissatisfaction of MOG Beatz.

Seems 2023 gave us diversity in terms of beefs we had. None was too brutal, and all ended on a peaceful note, which is best for everybody.

ID/BB