VGMA Board revokes Jay Bahd’s New Artiste nomination after petition

This comes after Jay Bahd’s nomination in the category alongside Malcum Nuna, DJay, Lasmid, Ewurabena, DJ Azonto, and Chief One was challenged by Journalist Austin Woode.

In the petition, Austine Woode established with evidence that Jay Bhad was not a new artiste in the scheme because he had nominations in the 2021 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.

Jay Bhad together with Yaw Tog bagged a nomination in the Best Collaboration of the Year in 2021 on the collaborative work, ‘Sore’.

Parts of the press release read, “One of the submissions made, which has generated high public interest, is Jay Bahd’s inclusion in the Best New Artiste category.

“After deliberations, the Board agrees that Jay Bahd is not new to the scheme, because of his shared nomination on Yaw Tog’s ‘Sore’ for Collaboration of the Year in 2021.

“This means he’s not eligible as a nominee for the Best New Artiste category of the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. The error has been corrected, and Jay Bahd and his team have been informed accordingly. The inconvenience is deeply regretted.”

Jay Bhad’s removal from the New Artiste of the Year category leaves artists such as Ewura Abena, Lasmid, Chief One, DJ Azonto, Malcolm Nuna, and DJay to fight for the award.

The 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is scheduled to take place at the Grand Arena in Accra on the 6th of May, 2023, and broadcasted live on television via TV3.

See the full statement below;

THE 24TH GMA NOMINATIONS REVIEW

On the night of the Nominees Announcement Show for the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, a one-week provisional window for addressing errors and omissions was announced.

Following this announcement, a number of well-meaning stakeholders made several submissions to the Board. These concerns have been reviewed and responses have been sent to the various petitioners.

One of the submissions made, which has generated high public interest, is Jay Bahd’s inclusion in the Best New Artiste category. After deliberations, the Board agrees that Jay Bahd is not new to the scheme, because of his shared nomination on Yaw Tog’ ‘Sore’ for Collaboration of the Year in 2021.

This means, he’s not eligible as a nominee for the Best New Artiste category of the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. The error has been corrected, and Jay Bad and his team have been informed accordingly. The inconvenience is deeply regretted.

The Board would like to express its sincere gratitude to Academy Member Austin Woode, for taking advantage of this Errors and Omissions window to help correct this oversight.

To the general public, we are extremely grateful for the level of engagement, submissions, and contributions during this one-week provisional window. We trust that this will lead to a more robust scheme for the industry.

To this end, we would like to notify the general public and stakeholders of the VGMA Review scheduled within 90 days after this year’s edition. Thus, anyone with ideas or concerns about the scheme should kindly send an email to info@ghanamusicawards.com.

Finally, do note that grand finale of the 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards is now slated for the 6th of May, 2023. The event will come off at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre, and will show live on TV3, and worldwide via the Ghana Music Awards socials.

Thank you.