The biggest awards ceremony for musicians will be held finally on Saturday and deserving winners will be smiling, while others will be disappointed but need to gather courage and still hope for the best in future
By: Evans Gyamera-Antwi
It’s another successful year in the music industry and as usual, some hardworking musicians and other related people, will have their works finally rewarded for the efforts put in.
Without mincing words, the Ghana Music Awards is the biggest award scheme in the country amid the controversies surrounding it every time and this year’s program will be the 19th edition. The awards night is expected to be held today (April 14) at the Accra International Conference Center (AICC).
Interestingly, this will be the first time since 2014, that Shatta Wale will be making an appearance in the list of nominees following his banter with Charterhouse who happens to be the organisers of the program. In his comeback, he had six nominations and the biggest amongst them is the Artiste(s) of the Year.
However, there are other high-profile names in that category including the 90’s bad girl Ebony Reigns of blessed memories, Stonebwoy, Sarkodie and reigning champion Joe Mettle and winning won’t be that easy for the Ayoo hitmaker.
There were other musicians who had massive breakthroughs including King Promise, KiDi, Kuame Eugene, etc and many ‘underground’ artists would relish to one day obtain a portion of their luck amid their hard work.
Here, Editor-in-chief of AshesGyamera.com, presents his predictions after painstakingly going through the list and how each musician fared in the period under scrutiny, and believes the highlighted names below will be crowned winners.
Gospel of the Year
Boot for Boot – Joyce Blessing
Obi Nyanime – Patience Nyarko
Bo Noo Ni – Joe Mettle (Winner)
Efatawo – Nacee
Adom – Gifty Osei
Jehovah – Ceccy Twum
Highlife Song of the Year
Dream – Kumi Guitar
Bronya – Wutah
Odo – KiDi
Angela – Kuami Eugene
Ladder – Lil Win
Over – R2bees
Hustle – Ebony (Winner)
Hiplife Song of the Year
Total Cheat – Fancy Gadam Ft. Sarkodie
Boys Boys – Nancee Ft. Guru
Pain Killer – Sarkodie Ft. Runtown
Obi Agyi Obi Girl – Captain Planet
Ayoo – Shatta Wale (Winner)
One Corner – Patapaa Ft. Ras Cann
Hiphop Song of the Year
State of the Art – Teephlow
Light it up – Sarkodie
Grind Day Remix – Kwesi Arthur (Winner)
Pen and Paper – Ko-jo Cue & Shaker
Dear God – B4bonah
Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year
Until the Dawn – Efya
My Own – Samini
My Name – Stonebwoy (Winner)
Faya Burn Dem – Article Wan
Rewind – MzVee
Dem Confuse – Shatta Wale
Afro-pop Song of the Year
Makoma – Adina feat. Sarkodie
Oh Yeah – King Promise
Say You Love Me – Kidi
Sing My Name – Mzvee
Jennifer Lomotey – Kurl Songx
Sponsor – Ebony
My Baby – Magnon
Come From Afar – Stonebwoy (Winner)
Gospel Artiste of the Year
Patience Nyarko (Winner)
Joyce Blessing
Joe Mettle
Celestine Donkor
Gifty Osei
Nance
Highlife Artiste(s) of the Year
Wutah
KiDi
Kuami Eugene (Winner)
Becca
Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year
Ebony
MzVee
Shatta Wale
Stonebwoy (Winner)
Songwriter of the Year
Kumi Guitar – Dream
Joe Mettle- Bo Noo Ni
Bullet – Maame Hwe (Winner)
Kofi Kinaata – Last Show
Samini – My own
Stonebwoy – My Name
Record of the Year
Kumi Guitar – Dream
Samini – My Own (Winner)
Sarkodie – Glory
Teephlow – State of the Art
Best Music Video of the Year
Kumi Guitar- Dream (Directed by Abass)
King Promise – Selfish (Directed by Vertex)
B4bonah – My Girl (Directed by Nicol-Sey)
Opanka – Wedding Car (Directed by Bra Shizzle)
Captain Planet – Obi Agyi Obi (Directed by Phamous Films)
Lil Shaker & Ko-Jo Cue – Pen & Paper (Directed by Ekumodzi) (Winner)
Hiplife/Hip-Hop Artiste of the Year
Yaa Pono
R2bees
Captain Planet
Kwesi Arthur
Sarkodie (Winner)
VVIP
Best Male Vocalist of the Year
Joe Mettle – Bo Noo Ni
King Promise – Selfish
KiDi – Odo
Kuami Eugene – Angela (Winner)
Mugeez – Over
Samini – My own
Best Female Vocalist of the Year
Adina – Makoma (Winner)
Nana Yaa – Don’t leave alone
Efya – Love
MzVee – Bright light
Becca – Summye (Pillow)
Best Group of the Year
VVIP
R2bees
Wutah (Winner)
Best Rapper of the Year
Eno Barony – Fear No Man
Teephlow – Phlowducation
Sarkodie – Light it up
Lil Shaker – Pen & Paper
Ko-Jo Cue – Pen & Paper
Strongman – Transformer (Winner)
Best collaboration of the Year
Joe Mettle Ft. Luigi Maclean – Bo noo ni
MzVee Ft. Patoranking – Sing My Name remix
Kurl Songx Ft. Sarkodie – Jennifer Lomotey
Sarkodie Ft. Runtown – Pain Killer
Shatta Wale Ft. SM Militants – Taking Over (Winner)
Captain Planet Ft. Kofi Kinaata – Obi Agyi Obi Girl
Becca Ft. Patoranking – Na Wash
Best African artiste of the Year
Davido (Winner)
Wizkid
Toofan
Cassper Nyovest
Nasty C
Tiwa Savage
Olamide
Best New Artiste of the Year
King Promise
Kurl Songx
KiDi
Kuami Eugene (Winner)
Magnom
Kwesi Arthur
B4bonah
Song of the Year
Sponsor – Ebony
Odo – Kidi
Angela – Kuami Eugene
Taking Over – Shatta Wale Ft. SM Militants (Winner)
Total Cheat – Fancy Gadam Ft. Sarkodie
One Corner – Patapaa Ft. Rad Cann
Bo Noo Nii – Joe Mettle Ft. Luigi Maclean
Obi Agyi Obi Girl – Captain Planet Ft. Kofi Kinaata.
My Baby – Magnom ft Joey B
Oh Yeah – King Promise
Pain Killer – Sarkodie feat. Runtown
Album of the Year
Epistles of Mama – Stonebwoy
Daavi – MzVee
Bonyfied – Ebony (Winner)
Highest – Sarkodie
Artiste of the Year
Joe Mettle
Ebony Reigns
Shatta Wale (WINNER)
Sarkodie
Stonebwoy