VGMA justifies inclusion of an expatriate beat-maker in 2021 nominations

The VGMA board has made a case for the inclusion of an expatriate producer, Chris Rich in the producer of the year category.

some industry folks have raised objections to the nomination of the non-Ghanaian beat-maker, arguing the VGMA needs to focus on celebrating Ghanaian talent.

But a board member, Nii Aryittey Hammond argued Chris Rich’s impressive works couldn’t be ignored.

“This Kumerican drive that everybody is going gaga about, he is the guy basically producing those beats for them ; the Yaw Togs , Kofi Jamar and all those guys,” Nii Aryittey Hammond disclosed.

Rich Chriz is credited for producing big hitsongs like ‘Sore’ by Yaw Tog and Kofi Jamar’s ‘Ekorso’ and according to the VGMA board member , the scheme awards people who do music in the Ghanaian system.

VGMA BOARD vs MR EAZI (2016)

After producing a number of hits in 2016, nigerian singer, mr eazi was rejected by the vgma board for not being a ghanaian by birth.

the argument by the vgma board at the time was that the scheme is for ghanaians, adding the only category that is none ghanaians is the african artiste of the year, now the best international act.

Reacting to the Board’s decision not to include Mr Eazi in the 2016 awards, Nii Aryittey Hammond noted the Nigerian artiste may have released songs here but Ghana wasn’t his grounds.

He further disclosed that Mr Eazi and Chris Rich’s scenario are two different scenarios and could not be compared.

“ He’s produced songs for the people in this market, so if you are awarding the producer of those songs who would you award ?

PRO for the VGMA Board, Robert Klah also offered some explanations.

“They are two different things; is one the artiste and the other one is the beat maker for an artiste whose song has been nominated. This particular category, the reason why you would include the beat-maker is because of a song that is in contention; ‘Ekorso and Sore’ “ he explained.

‘ Ekorso and Sore’ are the songs that we are looking at and what is connected to these songs ? The Beat-Maker , unfortunately that person is not a Ghanaian , but the category definition doesn’t say that you must be a Ghanaian or not” Robert Klah clarified in an interview with Tv3’s Nana Kwadwo Addo.

Story by Konxept Worae|3news.com|Ghana