EAZZY DETERMINED TO HIT INTERNATIONAL STAGE

It is just the beginning of a new year and female rapper and singer, Eazzy is already warming herself up for great shows to last the period. Her first call of duty was the shoot of her new single, Back to the bone which featured Edem.

The video which was shot yesterday at various locations in Accra brought out Eazzy’s versatility in languages as she rapped in Ga, Ewe and patois.

In an interaction with Showbiz earlier this week, the Wengeze singer who declared the year 2014 as her “Year of goodies” said, production of music videos have become another avenue for artistes to impress the public with their looks and moves apart from their vocal abilities.

She said the shoot of Bad to the bone is just one of the many activities that her management has put in place as part of the package expected to see her brand soar high to the international level.

“Every artiste has an ambition and a dream to reach the international stage and that is what my team and I will be working on for the year. This year will see me collaborating with many artistes and I am hopeful our efforts will yield fruits” she stated.

She said that even though last year was quite an eventful year considering the number of shows she participated in and the success that her single, Scream, chalked she was hopeful for an exposure on the international platform.

“I am looking forward to a Channel O Awards and that means that I would need to put in extra effort on my works. Back home, I am also expecting some nominations and probably awards at this year’s Ghana Music Awards” she said.

After her debut album, Twinkle, launched in 2010, which contained songs like Wengeze and Bo Wo Nsem Ma Me, Eazzy has had over 15 nominations in a variety of awards schemes.

PREACHER MEN FROM SHOWBIZ

The last time you saw Promzy, he probably had his shirt off, displaying his tattoed torso, holding up his crotch and belting out rap tunes in a performance with his group, VIP. But that must have been many weeks ago.

Recently, showbiz circles in Ghana was hit by the bombshell news that Promzy, who recently announced he was quitting the group had turned to Christ and was looking at the prospect of becoming ‘a man of God’.

Surprising as the news might have been, the development was not totally unexpected. Musicians and showbiz persons finding God is not a new story. Quite a number have left the bright lights of the music and showbiz stage for the mellow pastel of the pulpit.

Among those who have done the ‘flip’ are Lord Kenya, the Sika Baa hit maker; Ofori Amponsah famous for his song, Otoolege; DJ Azigiza Jnr; K. K Kabobo, idolised for his Nyatse-Nyatse Girl song, David Kwasi Antwi of Antwi ne Antwi fame who is celebrated for the song, Sekina; Nana King, extolled for the song, Champion and Paapa Shee, widely acclaimed for the hit song, Atadwe.

Even though Ghanaians are highly religious and hold their clergy especially pastors in high esteeem, raising some of them to pop cult status judging from their attitudes on billboards spread all over towns and cities, yet, it is difficult to strike a linkage between a pop star and a transformation into a maverick preacher.

Is the lure of bigger money be what drives many a showbiz person to become a man of God or is the move an escape from depression? What is it that drives seemingly successful musicians to “flee” to the arms of the Lord?

In a telephone conversation Showbiz had with Lord Kenya, preacher of about three years standing, it is all about the grace of God and the realisation to surrender one’s life to a superior being, Jesus Christ.

“It is like what happened to Saul on his way to Damascus. Whenever the grace comes upon you, there is no turning back,” he said.

He said, for him, making money was not an attraction to become born again. “The money is in show business where people charge money to perform for say four hours. Where I am now it is not like that. I was redeemed for redemption purposes and so have to lead others to become redeemed as well. But I speak for myself, for others time will tell,” he said.

For his part, David Antwi, said it comes to a point in one’s life when he begins to think deep and questions what life is about in order to make amends. At other times, he said, the transformation is as a result of a calling which one can do nothing about but go serve God.

“It is a good thing to be called to serve God while one is alive, bearing in mind there will come a judgement day when each will be called to account for their life on earth,” he added.

He said he had nothing against people in showbiz, who he said are good but are made to look bad by the audience who attend their shows intoxicated from alcohol or drugs, and act in ways that rubs on the artistes.

He aslo dismissed assertions that the ‘changed’ artistes are doing so for money, claiming that if that was the case, the exodus would have been in droves and not the number we are seeing at the moment

Suprisingly though, artistes who have become born-again and have tried their hands on gospel music have largely been unsuccessful with their music.

Showbiz went about town to ask how a sermon by a born-again showbiz person will be received. According to Gerhard Osei Owusu, a national service person, it depends on how mature the recipient of the message is in Christ. While an immature christian will take it lightly, a matured christian will treat the encounter seriously as encouragement to soldier on.

A journalist, George Ernest Asare, said he has been greatly inspired by Lord Kenya. He said he initially thought Kenya’s redemption story was going to be nine-day wonder but he has been proved wrong. He said he would receive a sermon from any showbiz convert with all seriousness, knowing that God can use anybody to turn people round to become part of the heavenly kingdom. 

I’M NOT AGAINST MARRIAGE - ACTRESS

Ghanaian actress Leonora Okine has replied her critics on her recent remarks on choosing career over marriage because she has not found “trustworthy love” yet.

According to Leonora, she is not against marriage as some critics have suggested. It is a personal choice that she made because marriage is just not the most important thing for her at the moment.

“What you read was intended to communicate that I would choose marriage over career but that would have to be a good marriage. One where I know my spouse would make a similar sacrifice for the marriage as well.

“To be honest, l am responsible for what I say, but definitely not how it’s interpreted or how anyone chooses to act based on it.”

“Marriage is sacred so it’s each person’s prerogative to decide whether to be a part of it or not. If you choose to be married then you should make sure you marry the right person, one that you would be willing to sacrifice for and who would also sacrifice for you in return, ” she said on social media, facebook yesterday.

"NONE OF SHATTA WALE'S SONGS HAS A SINGLE PROFANE OR SEXUALLY EXPLICIT WORD"- BULLDOG

Ghana’s ‘Dancehall King’, Shatta Wale, has challenged his critics to produce evidence that most of his songs have profane lyrics and therefore do not qualify to be nominated for the upcoming Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs). A number of music industry stakeholders have criticized Shatta’s ‘Enter The Net’ and the mega hit ‘Dancehall King’ tracks as having sexually explicit content and therefore should be disqualified. This criticism is largely coming from persons who have one issue or the other against the musician and is largely calculated at getting him disqualified even before the VGMA board starts collating entries. “Shatta does not only release songs for the media and for public shows. He also has songs for the streets and the ghettos. The second category of songs is not for radio or television airplay and they come in a language that suits the streets. But we can say on authority that none of the songs we have released for media airplay and for shows have a single profane or sexually explicit word. And we challenge anyone who has heard any media house play a Shatta song with profane lyrics to produce evidence or shut up and stop tagging the artiste as profane,” Bull Dog, Shatta’s Manager told News One. He said the criticisms are baseless and would not deter the artiste from submitting his works for the VGMAs this year. “We believe the Nomination Board would judge Shatta Wale by his works as a musician in 2013 and by the particular songs he would submit as well as his public votes, which would be huge, but not by his other songs he has not submitted,” he added. Management has confirmed to News One that Shatta would be submitting his songs to compete for Song of the Year, Dancehall/Reggae Song of the Year, and the overall Artiste of the Year.

Source: News One

I DESERVE AT LEAST THREE AWARDS THIS YEAR - GURU

Nomination time is anxiety time as the processes for the prestigious Ghana Music Awards get underway. As it happens every year, musicians and music industry players are biting their fingers as they wait to see who gets nominated and who does not. For many artistes, however, there is no waiting time because they are confident they did so well in 2013 that they deserve to be in the nominations list. One of such is Guru who has his eyes on, not one, not two, but five awards, including the ultimate Artiste of the Year. Guru told Showbiz last week that he deserves the award because of his hit song, Boys Abre (Alkayida). “My song was on the lips of everyone and the title even and in public conversations. This should tell everyone the impact I had with it. The song came with a dance which is currently the dance of the moment”, Guru said. According to the Lapaz Toyota hit maker, he deserves the Most Popular Song of the Year, Artiste of the Year, Hiplife Album of the Year, Best Rapper and Hiplife Song of the Year. “I was disappointed when Lapaz Toyota was rejected in 2013 for reasons best known to Charterhouse, but this year I have done clean songs which have made a lot of impact and everyone knows I am telling the truth” Guru said. He said one thing that makes him stand out is the fact that he did not have any beef with any artiste that made him do a diss song for anyone to say his lyrics are not clean. In addition, Guru claims he performed on a number of shows than any other artiste last year which makes him a better choice than the others. Real name Nana Yaw Adjei Yeboah Maradona, Guru said he would be very disappointed if he does not grab at least three awards this year. “I know I really worked last year, for an artiste to release six hit singles makes me feel there is no size. From Nkivadaa Nkivadaa, Amen to Boys Abre (Alkajida) all these songs have been hits, so what again do Ghanaians what me to do?” Guru asked. “There is no way I will not pick up any award this year, I mean it is impossible; I must win not less than three awards come April when the awards take place. He said he was grateful to his management team, Empire Entertainment for always standing by him and giving him the needed support.

Source: Graphic Showbiz

THE LIST OF MEN YVONNE NELSON HAS DATED

Yvonne Nelson started her movie career from way back and she actually became one of the hottest commodities in the Ghana movie industry until she was banned for her arrogance and her indecent behaviour on set. She didn’t let that shake her, she moved to Nigeria to pursue her career she was accepted by Nigerians and Nigeria became her second home. Yvonne Nelson is noted for her obsession with social media and also her love for music and the men in music. Her relationships always tend to turn heads and eventually become the talk of the town. Check out some of the famous men Yvonne Nelson has dated. Some are alleged and mere rumors but as they say, there is a little truth in every rumor. Sit back and relax. Derek Boateng: Derek Boateng is a Ghanaian footballer and so far rumors had it that he was smashing Yvonne Nelson. We all know how girls love to hang with the ‘ballers’ as they have the cash to actually ‘ball’. It was alleged that after smashing, he sponsored Yvonne Nelson’s high budget movies that is how Yvonne Nelson broke into the movie production scene. Derek Boateng however refuted it. Jon German: According to sources, Jon German was Yvonne Nelson’s first love right after her fame. They both kept denying it but 99% of people in the showbiz know that the two were smashing and Trigmatic could vouch. Chase: They didn’t actually date but Yvonne Nelson confessed to having a huge crush on singer Chase back in High School Days, if Chase had done his homework well, he could have ‘smashed’ before Iyanya broke her heart. The two are good friends. Ice Prince: Well during the shooting of her ‘House Of Gold’ movie, Ice Prince was called to be a part of the movie, rumors had it that Ice Prince didn’t just take the role but also took off Yvonne Nelson’s ‘dress’. They both came out to deny it as usual. They were spotted in night clubs, hanging out at malls and various places … who knows, it could have been part of the movie. Davido: This one is actually a secret, according to reliable sources Davido is the reason why Iyanya left Yvonne Nelson. Iyanya: Finally the most popular of them all. When reports first came out that they were dating, they both refuted the claims, actually Yvonne did being it as Iyanya was a nobody back then. Till date she still talks about the breakup. Isn't it obvious that Yvonne Nelson has got a soft spot for guys in music?

Source: highstreetmail.com

AB CRENSTIL TURNS 70

Last Saturday, January 25 is likely to be a day highlife star, AB Crentsil will remember for the rest of his life as family, friends, colleague musicians and general well-wishers gathered at the Marjorie Y hotel at Community Six in Tema to help him mark his 70th birthday.

There was a lot of food, drinks, smiles, laughter and of course, music that zoomed everyone present onto cloud nine for a night of immense fun.

With wife Elizabeth constantly by his side and several grandchildren around who seemed elated by the whole affair, Crentsil majestically soaked in all the praises as well as prayers for long life, better health and more songs from his fruitful mind.

The highlife legend didn’t move around much at the party, the reason being a bout of bad health that slowed him down a bit a couple of weeks ago.

All the same, his mood was buoyant. When he stood behind the high table to play his trademark dondo and sing a few of his well-known songs, he seemed quite energetic and the guests happily sang along with him.

His performance was accompanied by a collection of hands from his Ahenfo band. They knew all his songs very well and delighted guests with many more apart from those rendered with the big man himself on lead vocals.

Some of the singers at the party, including Ben Brako, Felix Owusu, Ama Mensiwah, Bessa Simons, Della Hayes and Kojo Soboh of Rana fame, all took turns to sing for the man they regard as a great mentor.

With emcee Papa Shamo ably in charge of the party, Crentsil cut cakes presented by his children and Imajin Advertising, organisers of the MTN Legends and Legacy (LAL) Ball which celebrated his contribution to music in this country late last year.

As several bottles of champagne were popped and the bubbles flew into the cool night air, it was everyone’s wish at the party that AB Crentsil would live for many more years and continue to bless us all with his often funny but thought-provoking songs.