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Trace Awards: Black Sherif, Camidoh, Stormzy, others earn nomination

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Some Ghanaian artistes have been nominated in the first ever Trace Awards in Africa.

The live event and global TV spectacular that celebrates the creativity, talent and influence of African and Afro-inspired music, will take place on 21st October 2023 at the BK Arena, Kigali, Rwanda.

The entire African continent will be represented by its best artists, showcasing the excellence and diversity of Afro-centric music in genres such as Afrobeat, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Afro-pop, Mbalax, Amapiano, Zouk, Kizomba, Genge, Coupé Décalé, Bongo Flava, Soukous, Gospel, Rap, Rai, Kompa, R&B, and Rumba.

Competing in 22 award categories are platinum-selling artists from more than thirty countries in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and Europe including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, the UK and Uganda amongst others. The winners will take home one or more Trace Awards Trophies unique pieces of art designed by acclaimed Congolese sculptor and designer, Dora Prevost.

Featuring strongly are Ghanaian acts Black Sherrif, Camidoh and UK born Stormzy. Black Sherif has two nominations first in the Best Collaboration Category (Second Sermon Black Sherif ft. Burna Boy) and the other in the Africa Anglo Category. Camidoh comes strong on the Song of The Year Category (Sugarcane Remix ft King Promise, Dakoo, etc.)

The contribution of female artists is recognised in multiple categories including Best Female Artist, where Cape Verde’s Soraia Ramos is competing against Josey from the Ivory Coast, Senegal’s Viviane Chidid, Kenya’s Nadia Mukami and the double threat of Tiwa Savage and Arya Starr (Nigeria).

The diverse music of the African diasporas is represented by nominations for some of the most acclaimed artists in France, Brazil, UK, The Caribbean and the Indian Ocean including Stormzy (UK), Booba and Aya Nakamura (France), Leo Santana (Brazil), Shenseea (Jamaica), Donovan BTS (Mauritius), Princess Lover and Kalash (Martinique), Bamby (Guyane) and Admiral T (Guadeloupe).

Africa’s enduring love of the uplifting Gospel genre is reflected in the Best Gospel Singer category, which sees South Africa’s Benjamin Dube going head-to-head with Kenya’s Janet Otienao, Uganda’s Levixone, KS Bloom from the Ivory Coast and Moses Bliss from Nigeria.

In a fitting tribute to the host country for the inaugural Trace Awards, Rwandan artists come to the fore in Best Rwandan Artist, highlighting the talent of Rwandan musicians Bruce Melodie, Kenny Sol, Ariel Wayz, Bwiza and Chriss Eazy. Also representing the east of the continent, Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz notches up several nominations, including Best Male and Best Video, while Azawi, Lexivone and the Uganda Ghetto Kids carry the torch for Uganda.

South African artists make their mark in the nominations, with Hip Hop artist K.O scoring an impressive three nominations including Best Male, Song of the Year and Best Collaboration. Also honoured are Musa Keys (Best Live, Best Collaboration), and Blxckie (Best Video), while Pabi Cooper squares up against a strong field in the Best Newcomer award category. Just over the border in Swaziland, Uncle Waffles scores a well-deserved nomination in the Best DJ category.

Further north, Algeria’s Raja Meziane and Kader Japonais are competing against Tunisia’s Artmasta and Morocco’s Amira Zouhair, Dystinct and El Grande Toto in Best Artist – North Africa.

Francophone music and artists take their fair share of the accolades with 10 nominations including two nods for Didi B from Ivory Coast as Best Male and Best Artist Africa – Francophone while Libianca from Cameroon earned two nominations, for Best Newcomer and Song of the Year, respectively. DRC’s Fally Ipupa also scored two nominations: one for the Best Live (Global) and one for the Best Artist Africa – Francophone categories.

Portuguese-speaking artists from Lusophone Africa are highlighted with nominations in Best Artist Africa – Lusophone for Gerilson Insrael and Perola from Angola, who are both pitted against Cape Verde’s Lisandro Cuxi and Soraia Ramos, as well as Plutonio (Mozambique).

Up-and-coming artists make their mark in the nominations, too, in the hotly contested Best Newcomer Award, sponsored by Luc Belaire, which sees popular Cameroonian artists – Libianca and Krys M – squaring up against Cote d’Ivoire’s Roselyne Layo, Azawi from Uganda, Pabi Cooper from South Africa and Nigeria’s Nissi and Odumodublvck.

Targeted at lovers of African and Afro-inspired music and culture, the Trace Awards will broadcast live on 21 October 2023 on Trace TV, radio and digital channels and on global streaming platforms, national terrestrial TV and satellite channels. The viewership and social interaction is expected to exceed 500 million fans in 190 countries.

Rwandan creativity and excellence are represented by the involvement of BK Arena, RwandAir and RBA as partners to the Trace Awards & Festival. Voting went live Monday 21 August 2023 at 18H00 CEST at https://trace.plus/awards.

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Peter Okoye reacts to alleged song ownership by twin brother

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Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”

Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.

He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.

Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”

He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.

“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“

It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.

“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.

“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.

“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.

“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?

“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.

“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.

“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.

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DNA test more important than naming ceremony- Don Jazzy

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producer and executive, Don Jazzy, has urged men to prioritise the paternity of their children, stating that it is more important than a naming ceremony.

On his Instagram story, Don Jazzy emphasised: “DNA test is more important than naming ceremony.”

His statement comes amid ongoing debates about the necessity of DNA tests, fuelled by recent high-profile cases of paternity fraud.

Don Jazzy known in real life as Michael Collins Ajereh is the founder of Mavin Records – through which he has signed artistes including D’Prince, Rema, and Ayra Starr.

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Pastor Love jailed 48 months in hard labour for stealing

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Pastor Hammond Love, widely known as Pastor Love, has been convicted of theft and sentenced to 48 months in prison with hard labour.

GBC Ghana Online reports that Pastor Love, a former husband of gospel musician Obaapa Christie, was found guilty of the offence after seven years of trial. 

Before he was sentenced, Pastor Love pleaded with the court for mercy, adding that he was willing to pay any fine that would be imposed on him. 

The court presided over by Isaac Addo, took into consideration the fact that the convicted Pastor Love was a first-time offender.

The court held that as a Pastor, he was expected to hold a high level of integrity, especially in matters of trust, and therefore handed him the 48-month jail term as a fair deterrent. 

The facts of the case as presented by ASP Frimpong was that in 2016 one Samuel Amankwah, a resident of the US, shipped a 4×4 vehicle into Ghana and tasked Pastor Love to clear it from the port. 

The convict cleared the said vehicle with his money, after which the complainant told him to sell it for US$50,000 and deduct the amount he paid as duty.

Later, the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he would travel to Ghana and refund his money. 

In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle, but he could not produce it despite several demands. 

The complainant complained with the Police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017. 

During interrogation, the convicted Pastor Love told the Police that he secured a loan of GH¢40,000 with 20 per cent interest to clear the vehicle and was accruing more interest, so he sold the vehicle at GH¢80,000 without the consent of the owner and paid GH¢70,000 to the loan company.

Meanwhile, Pastor Love was unable to lead the Police to the said loan company to verify the claim and could not also tell who bought the vehicle. 

The Judge said the convict was dishonest to the Court.

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