Kwesi Arthur-Ground Up Dispute: What we know so far from both sides

On January 22, 2026, videos, photos, and tweets circulating across various social media platforms focused on Ghanaian rapper Kwesi Arthur after he took to X to accuse his former record label, Ground Up Chale, and music executive Glen Boateng of extortion, threats, excessive financial demands, and attempts to block his independent music releases.

Following Kwesi Arthur’s post, several industry figures, including Nana Aba Anamoah, Kayso, Kwaw Kese, Kofi Mole, Efya, and Medikal, among others, publicly expressed support for the rapper on social media.

Some creatives and fans went further, tagging Glen Boateng as “evil” and levelling additional accusations against him.

However, in a new twist, email correspondence between Kwesi Arthur and Glen Boateng of Ground Up Chale, dating back to May 2025, has surfaced online, offering a different perspective on the controversy.

Glen Boateng’s lawyer recently joined a Joy News X Space hosted by Kwame Dadzie to present his client’s side of the story, outlining events involving Kwesi Arthur and the music executive from 2017 to 2025.

I fulfilled all contractual obligations under the label – Kwesi Arthur

Happenings between Kwesi Arthur and Glen from 2017–2022:

Speaking during the X Space, Jonathan Amable, lawyer for Glen Boateng and ‘Ground Up Chale’, revealed that Kwesi Arthur signed a four-year recording contract with the label in 2017.

According to Amable, the agreement was based on a 60–40 revenue split in favour of the label and included a provision for renewal for an additional two years.

He explained that claims regarding image rights and other allegations raised by the rapper were not captured in the contract.

He further explained that after the initial four-year term expired, Kwesi Arthur entered into a one-year agreement with Ground Up Chale, under which revenue was shared on a 50–50 basis.

“It was a four-year deal, renewable for another two years. The terms of the contract were quite simple. There was nothing about image rights or holding of images. A lot of the conversations happening now are due to fiction, misdirection, and misinformation out there.

“The main provisions were simply that Kwesi and Ground Up would work together. Ground Up owns the product created from that collaboration, and from that ownership, they share net profits, where 60 per cent of the revenue goes to Ground Up, and 40 per cent goes to Kwesi Arthur,” he said.

Amable also addressed Kwesi Arthur’s claim that the label had prevented him from using images for his ‘Redemption Valleys’ project.

According to the lawyer, the footage in question was recorded during Kwesi Arthur’s tenure with ‘Ground Up Chale’ and therefore constitutes the intellectual property of the record label.

Stop making noise and pay for Kwesi Arthur - Kwaw Kese to netizens

“Images and videos recorded during the period when he was under contract… The footage he used to promote the current project even dates back to the very beginning, reminding people of how they felt about Kwesi at the time.

“It generated a certain buzz. Everybody saw the buzz online and how people connected to it. It’s all part of the sentiments those images evoked, and these were images he used without authorization,” he added.

Email from Glen Boateng to Kwesi Arthur:

Following the Joy News X Space, GhanaWeb has obtained email correspondence sent by Glen Boateng to Kwesi Arthur concerning their contractual relationship.

The emails include accounting reports from projects the two parties worked on prior to 2021.

The correspondence also outlined the financial investment made by the label in promoting Kwesi Arthur’s much-anticipated ‘Son of Jacob’ album in 2020, stating that ‘Ground Up Chale’ retains the intellectual property rights to the project, as it was produced while the artiste was signed to the label.

Subsequently, on August 15, 2025, Glen Boateng sent a follow-up email to Kwesi Arthur, expressing concern that the musician had not responded to his earlier correspondence sent in May 2025.

Text'Blame Ground Up, Glen Boateng if anything happens to me' - Kwesi Arthur explodes

He also claimed that Kwesi Arthur had earned approximately £91,370.00 (GH¢1,461,920) in royalties since joining the label in 2017.

In the same email, Glen alleged that the musician had secretly solicited $118,712.08 (GH¢1,424,544) from a third party identified as Platoon without the label’s consent.

He further noted in the email that he had also contacted Kwesi Arthur’s father in an attempt to mediate the situation and had arranged a meeting to discuss repayment, which the musician allegedly failed to attend.

Amid the controversy, Glen Boateng has clarified that ‘Ground Up Chale’ has no objection to Kwesi Arthur releasing new music.

Rather, the concern centres on the use of footage shot and owned by the label without prior permission.

How the entertainment industry is reacting to Kwesi Arthur’s record label dispute

Demands and legal threat

Meanwhile, the label has issued Kwesi Arthur a seven-day ultimatum to take corrective action or face possible legal action.

The demands include;

1. Written acknowledgement of unauthorised use of Ground Up Chale–owned visual materials;

2. Settlement of an attached invoice reflecting retroactive licensing fees and damages arising from viral, multi-platform promotional exploitation, as well as the use of unlicensed imagery within permanent album branding;

3. Written confirmation that no further use of GUC-owned or unlicensed visual materials would occur without prior written clearance.

The label further warned that failure to resolve the matter within seven days would compel Ground Up Chale to exercise all available rights.

“If this matter is not resolved within seven days, GUC reserves all rights, including platform enforcement, takedown actions, and the pursuit of further legal remedies,” the email concluded.

JHM/EB

Meanwhile, watch GhanaWeb's exclusive interview with Ghanaian musician/comedian David Oscar Dogbe