Mrs Theresa Ayoade, Chief Executive Officer of Charterhouse, organizers of the prestigious Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), has expressed her team’s commitment to engage dancehall musician, Shatta Wale and his team in a dialogue on his potential return to the award scheme.
Shatta Wale in 2019 along with his then-rival Stonebwoy were indefinitely suspended from participating in the VGMA following their highly publicized brawl, during which Stonebwoy brandished a gun on stage and marred the 20th Anniversary of the awards.
However, after a series of reconciliation meetings, Stonebwoy has made a successful comeback to the award scheme, winning the Afropop Song of the Year and Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year awards at the 24th VGMA.
Shatta Wale, on the other hand, is yet to return but Mrs Ayoade, in an interview on Joy FM, revealed that following the lifting of the ban on Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy, discussions were held with Stonebwoy’s team to explore ways to collaborate for the growth of the music industry.
“We are open to a conversation…We want to be as inclusive as possible…We are happy to sit around the table and have a decent conversation, which is what we did with Stonebwoy’s team. We are happy to have a conversation but as decent as adults and mature people,” she said
As a key stakeholder in the industry, Charterhouse said it aims to ensure that its award scheme is respected by all and sundry
“We just want to make sure that the scheme is respected. Whoever agrees to be part of the scheme, agrees to abide by the outcome of the scheme. Most importantly, just give it that respect because we give every musician the necessary respect. The industry must also give us that respect for what we do because we are collaborators in the industry,” Mrs Theresa Ayoade highlighted.
Shatta Wale in a recent interview as reported by TV3 said he was ready to talk to the VGMA board if they sent a rep to speak to him as he had no qualms with the scheme.
“You know VGMA is my ex-girlfriend, anytime they want to come back, I am here, I don’t know why they are behaving like the beef we have, we can’t cut it,” he said.
He further explained his position by arguing that the organizers should contact him in a nice approach to discuss the nominations.
“I feel because they are the ones organizing stuff like this, there should be a nice approach to me, Shatta we want to sit down with you and let you know we are ready with our nominations and we have a team,” he stated.
