No gospel artiste has ever wrestled the Artiste of the Year position from their secular counterpart since the introduction of the category to the annual Ghana Music Awards. On some occasions, they have not even received a nomination.
Leader of the No Tribe gospel music group Nana Kweku Osei, popularly known as Nacy has said on Radio Univers' mid-morning show, Brunch2Lunch hosted by Abrantepa that, a gospel artiste winning the much-coveted award will not serve the business interests of the organizers of the awards. According him, organizers and sponsors most often need artists who can attract huge crowds to the after party mostly held in the club.
“There is a sponsor for the Artiste of the Year category which is mostly night clubs. They expect the winner to perform there during the after party and you don’t expect any gospel artiste to go there to perform. So I think they feel they can’t do that business with us.”
He noted that if that was the ultimate measure to determine who wins the prestigious award for the night, then no gospel artiste will make history since the organizers and sponsors, as business oriented as they are, will choose a secular artiste with the greatest public appeal and is capable of getting them the numbers for their after party than merit.
“For me and my No Tribe, we will not go there (night club). And if that is what will deny us the Artiste of Year, then no gospel artiste would ever win. The business orient is very huge. What happens at the night club is total fun. They don’t want to hear the name Jesus there”, he said.
Nacy who has been on the board before believes from his experience, “it will take a miracle for a gospel artiste to win Artiste of the Year”. He added that awards are not his main focus for doing music but to draw people closer to God.
This year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards has Daddy Lumba, Stonebwoy, Guru, Edem, MzVee, Sarkodie and Samini nominated for the Artiste of the Year category.
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