Shatta Wale shoots himself in the foot

The issue of whether or not Shatta Wale should be considered a nominee at the 17th edition of the Ghana Music Awards is one that has dominated the airwaves and social media platforms.

The dancehall artiste after asking organisers of the event, Charterhouse Productions Limited, not to nominate him during last year’s event has eaten back his words and has submitted his nomination forms for this year’s edition. His reason for boycotting it was that organisers were in court with him over charges of defamation.

“I don’t have any problem but this is a company that is taking Shatta Wale to court. You can’t take me to court and give me food to eat; you might poison me,” he had said.

What I find interesting is, even though the case is not yet settled, Shatta Wale appears to be justifying his decision to be part of the awards scheme, citing calls from his fans to join. That for me is a cowardice act.

Shatta Wale is refusing to accept that he erred in showing so much disrespect to the scheme probably because he may be seen as weak. On the contrary, it takes one with balls to say, “I’m sorry”. Apologising for a wrong thing done is never a sign of weakness.

Unfortunately, Shatta Wale has dragged the Ghana Music Awards through the mud several times and has on all previous occasions rendered unqualified apologies. "To err is human; to forgive is divine," they say. But what happens when you repeatedly and deliberately create a mess just for fame and the fun of it?

The journey of insults started when Shatta Wale descended on dancehall artiste, Kaakie after she won the Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year for the song ‘Tofee Pon Tongue’ at the 2013 edition of the event claiming he deserved to win.

He further recorded a song directed at Charterhouse titled ‘Letter to Charterhouse’ stressing that he needs no award. A few months later, he apologised and released a song to validate his plea for forgiveness.

Shatta was forgiven, he received nominations at the 2014 edition and subsequently won awards including the Artiste of the Year. Funnily enough, he was absent from the event. He showed up after the occasion for reasons best known to him.

I’m sure we have not forgotten that Shatta warned organisers not to nominate him in the 2015 edition - or else he would sue them. And that was the time the two parties were thrashing out issues in court. The level of disrespect took a different twist when he tweeted that he was auctioning his 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards plaques for two cedis because he did not value it.

With the chronology of events, I guess he could best answer these questions.

First, is he ready to eat the ‘poison’ from Charterhouse? They are still in court; yet he wants to eat their food. Or has he taken some antidotes?

Second, what should we make of an artiste who accepts an award from the same scheme he considers biased and spat on?

Third, why is he not being man enough to apologise for showing gross disrespect to the scheme than hiding behind his fans to rescind his infamous decision?

The annual Ghana Music Awards has contributed tremendously to the music industry and should at all levels be given the needed respect. There is one thing saying, “I don’t think I worked enough for awards this year so I won’t be part” and there is another dragging the scheme into disrepute. Watch your words so they don’t come ‘eating you up in the face’. Shatta Wale should bury his pride and apologise.