2023 was marked by many headlines in the entertainment industry. From Mona4Reall’s alleged involvement in a romance scam to Afua Asantewaa’s attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest singing marathon.
let’s take a retrospective look at some of the major stories that rocked the showbiz scene in the year.
1.Sarkodie buys Akwaboah’s album for GHC3,000:
Accra’s SOHO Bar buzzed with anticipation on Tuesday, November 21st, 2023, as Akwaboah unveiled his highly-awaited “LightHouse” album with an exclusive listening party.
Among the A-list guests was Sarkodie. The ‘Adonai’ rapper who had previously signed Akwaboah to his SarkCess Music and collaborated with him on many of his hit songs, bought a copy of the album for GhC3,000.
His bid of GhC3,000 which secured him the prize sparked a firestorm of online criticism. Some fans felt the amount was a mere pittance for an artist of Akwaboah’s calibre, especially from a fellow music giant like Sarkodie.
2. Appietus and 5FIVE Beef
The controversy surrounding defunct Hiplife music group 5Five’s smash hit song, ‘Muje Baya’ released in 2010 took a hefty twist in 2023.
The controversy started when the producer of the Song, Appiah Dankwah, popularly known as Appietus was accused of illegally using a beat from a South African song – ‘Amerido ‘by DJ Crido.
Appietus admitted to the accusation and explained that it was 5Five who brought the beat to him saying “That was the first time I sampled someone’s beat for a song.”
After thirteen years, the legendary Ghanaian music producer precipitated another controversy around the same song.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Citi TV‘s entertainment talk show ‘Upside Down’ – hosted by multi-talented broadcasters, Frema Adunyame and Nana Tuffour, Sunday, Appietus who revealed how the ‘Muje Baya’ song was produced said the award-winning defunct music group failed to pay him after producing it.
According to Appietus, “After recording the song, they told me they were going to show it to an investor. The next moment, I heard the song playing on the radio. They lied to me”.
This claim did not go down well with Papi who responded to the claim on CTV on Tuesday, January 17.
Papi called him names and claimed he benefited hugely from the song which they paid him for.
The artiste, one-half of 5Five accused the producer of making revenue off their songs via digital streaming platforms on their blind side since 2013.
3. Sarkodie and Yvonne Nelson
The multiple-award-winning rapper and the celebrated actress were involved in controversies after the actress released her memoir ‘I’m not Yvonne Nelson” which details her life experiences.
In the memoir, the renowned Ghanaian actress claimed that she got pregnant for Sarkodie during the early stages of their career and the rapper urged her to have an abortion. He was not ready to be a father.
The lines were drawn. Yvonne’s memoir exposed a raw wound, accusing Sarkodie of leaving her alone at the clinic. Sarkodie responded with a venomous diss track, ‘Try Me’ escalating the public feud. But through it all, Yvonne stood firm, her truth her shield.
4. Black Sherif and Cruise People
In the third quarter of the year, Black Sherif found himself in some legal trouble. On Wednesday, July 19, social media was flooded with reports of the supposed arrest of ‘Kwaku The Traveller’ at Kotoka International Airport. It was later disclosed that Cruise People Ltd. had filed a complaint with the Ghana Police Service regarding an alleged breach of contract.
The company later filed a lawsuit demanding about $100,000. They claimed after booking Black Sherif for the cruise and paying half of his booking fee ($20,000), the ‘Kwaku The Traveller’ hit-maker was expected to make a video confirming his participation in the event in Greece.
However, he failed to do so after several attempts to get through to him, which caused disinterest in the show leading to its cancellation. The cancellation, they noted caused them to incur costs.
But Black Sherif’s team insisted that there was no requirement in the contract for him to make a promotional video.
The case was later dismissed in November. The court presided over by Judge Mariama Sammo, agreed with the lawyers for the Konongo-born musician.
In her decision on Thursday, November 16, the judge indicated that none of the addresses given by the party performing the contract was located in Ghana. This left the court with no option but to dismiss the case against the award-winning music star.
5. Mona4Reall’s Alleged Romance Scam
Popular socialite and singer Mona Faiz Montrage better known as Hajia4Reall is currently mired in a legal battle over her alleged involvement in a $2 million romance scam that targeted older, single Americans.
She was extradited from the United Kingdom on May 12, 2023, after being arrested in November 2022 in the European country. The popular socialite has pleaded not guilty and is currently facing the charges in court.
In May, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced that they were unsealing a six-count Indictment that charged Hajia4Real for her role in a series of romance schemes and for laundering the proceeds of those schemes.
According to the court, from at least in or about 2013 through 2019, the Influencer was a member of a Criminal Enterprise based in Ghana that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the United States, including romance scams.
The prosecution said, “Montrage received money from several victims of romance frauds whom members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money. Among the false pretences used to induce victims to send money to Montrage were (i) payments to transport gold to the United States from overseas; (ii) payments to resolve a fake FBI unemployment investigation; and (iii) payments to assist a fake United States army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.”
6. Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale Beef
This year, the two Dancehall musicians disagreed over booking Accra Sports Stadium for their respective end-of-year shows.
Shatta Wale and Medikal had announced a 5-day festival called the ‘Freedom Wave Festival’, scheduled to take place from December 20th to 25th at the Accra Sports Stadium.
However, days after this announcement, Stonebwoy also announced his annual year-end concert, which was scheduled for December 22nd at the same venue.
The conflicting concert dates upset Shatta Wale, who expressed his frustration via a live broadcast on Facebook. He warned the Bhimnation boss to avoid crossing his path and emphasized the potential harm.
As a result of the conflict, Shatta Wale ultimately cancelled the Freedom Wave Concert altogether.
7. Sonnie Badu selling his Rolex Watch to Fund His Concert
The UK-based Ghanaian gospel musician sharing insights into the challenges he faced in securing sponsorship for his recent concert ‘Rhythms Of Africa’ said had to resort to selling his valuable Rolex watch to finance the event.
Sonnie Badu who was speaking to Onua TV explained that despite dedicating over five months to meticulous planning, his team encountered difficulties as most of the approached sponsors didn’t offer support
8. Afua Asantewaa’s GWR Sing-a-thon attempt
One of the highlights of 2023 happens to Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum’s fierce attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest singing Marathon.
The marathon commenced at midnight on December 24, 2023, and concluded on the morning of December 29, 2023, after an impressive 126 hours and 52 minutes.
While awaiting verification from Guinness World Record judges, Asantewaa’s effort is believed to have significantly exceeded the existing record set by India’s Sunil Waghmare in 2012.
She has been named Ghana’s Tourism Ambassador.
The post 2023 Review: Top stories that rocked the showbiz scene appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana.
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