The dramatic story behind Gallaxy and Harbour City Recordz split

The label, owned and managed by business mogul Gideon Narh, had been the pillar behind Gallaxy and all the successes they have chalked over the years.

Through the label, the group has produced hit songs like “Boko Boko” (Slowly), “Holla At Me”, “Y3 Mame”, “Wo Do Nti”, “Papa Bi” and their latest hit “Qualities”.

Gallaxy have shared the same stage with some top local and international artistes and had great brand under Harbour City Recordz.

The Afrobeats/Hiplife group under Harbour City Recordz have released about 17 singles, close to 10 music videos, an award in 2016 and multiple awards nominations in Ghana and abroad.

However, the group said they are no longer interested in working with Harbour City Recordz. The group cited low patronage of their performance and the label’s inability to afford a car and accommodation as the basis of their split. The C.E.O of the company Gideon Narh shared a different story in an interview with Pulse.com.gh on the basis of their split.

Gideon said he sacked the group and cited constant car and accommodation demand as the reason.

Gideon Narh's story

Narrating his side of the story, Gideon told Pulse.com.gh:

“I want to concentrate on my work and I didn’t even want to talk about this.

“If I am giving you (Gallaxy) hit songs and everything, you the artiste have to push yourself for the gigs. If you perform at an event and your performance was poor, do you expect organisers to call you back? If you are producing good songs and you are not helping yourself, no one will call you for shows.

"Everybody in the media knows what I have done for the boys.

“You know our system absorbs a lot of money but the returns are always low.

“If you are living with your parents and I rent a one-room self-contained for you to manage and you ignore it, what should I do? "They said they wanted a chamber and hall self-contained plus a car instead. Myself, I have properties but I live in a single room.

“I could have bought them a car but the way they manage my car when handed to them made me change my mind. When I give them my car, they don’t return it on time. I sometimes call them to return my car but they don’t pick my calls.

“I buy them clothes, food and spend monies from gigs on them so I don’t benefit from them. I brought a Nigerian video director to shoot a video for them. They were to travel to the United States and I even did passports for Gallaxy, their sound engineer, Shottoh Blinqx, publicist Jonilar, and road manager, Spider, with my own money. "They start misbehaving anytime there’s a good thing coming.

“I terminated the contract secretly because I didn’t want to talk about it. I have some pain in me but I leave it to God. They came to my house with their parents to apologise but I didn't accept them back.”

Gallaxy's story

Pulse.com.gh contacted the group’s publicist, Jonilar, to share their side of the story and this is what he had to say.

“The car and accommodation demands from Gallaxy is one of the reasons why the group parted ways with the record label.”

On why the group canceled their contract with the label after 6 years, Jonilar argued:

“When you start a business, you have to consider the business environment and the benefits. When you promote your songs and they become hits and money is not coming from them, that is not a business. If you are doing such business and you don’t break even at the management level in terms of income, then it’s not a business.

“Gallaxy knew the ins and outs of showbiz before signing a contract with Harbour City Recordz. And from the beginning, we had an initial agreement but over time, things were not going in the right direction.

“We have a new management team now but not under any record label.”