REGGIE ROCKSTONE WEEPS FOR CREATIVE ARTS INDUSTRY

Grandpapa and pioneer of popular music genre Hip life, Reggie Rockstone has described the creative arts industry, especially the music scene as the biggest oversight over the years despite the impact it has had on the development of the country.

Reggie Rockstone made this known in an interview with NY DJ on Kapital Radio during a discussion on the relevance of Ghanaian music to the development of Ghana.

In a submission, Reggie Rockstone asserted it was pathetic the country could not boast of a music industry but rather a music scene after 57 years of independence.

Asked the difference between the two, he explained an industry involved the right structures that made sure artists gained the right revenues and royalties from their sweat so that the government could also make enough money in developing the nation.

He however referred the lack of an industry to what he termed “childism”; an attitude that makes the elderly look down on the youth and never want to listen to them.

“The music scene has been a sort of employment for many Ghanaian youth, but this attitude of childism which prevents a child from making inputs or contributions during adult conversations has left our needs being overlooked. We can’t even express ourselves to the authorities”.

He advised authorities to pay heed to the cry of Ghanaian youth, to better make informed decisions and not only see the relevance of the musician during political seasons.

ONE ON ONE WITH VAN VICKER

Ghanaian actor Van Vicker in a recent interview with Nigerian Tribune’s Joan Bajojo Omionawele, talked at length about his life as an actor, his marital journey with his wife Adjoa. He also took his time to address an insult he got from Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji and his rumoured affair with Chika Ike.

Interview Excerpt:

You are known for your lover boy roles. Where did you get your good looks from?

I don’t know. I can’t really say if it was my mum or my dad. I would say it was a blend of both of them, because if my mum had been married to someone else or my dad had been married to someone else, the result would probably have been different.

We all know how intense the sun in Ghana is, yet you have remained fair in complexion. Do you have any beauty regimen?

I do get sun-burnt sometimes, not only in Ghana, in Nigeria as well; it depends on the location of the movie I am shooting. But I drink a lot of water and I eat in bits. That’s it.

We have heard so many rumours about you? How do you feel when you hear rumours about yourself?

Many times, I don’t bother about it, because I know it’s one of those things. Sometimes if I can counter or debunk them through my social networks, I do; but people will continue to say such stuff anyway.

How do you handle being a father, husband and an actor?

I don’t think it’s such a big deal. I lead a normal life; I just go about (performing) those roles. When I’m at home, I am at home; and when I am at work, I don’t joke with it. I do things that a normal dad would do. It’s the same with you. I don’t know if you are married, but any person who is married, works and has kids would go home after work and cater for the family. And that’s the same thing I do; there’s nothing extra-crazy about it. When I’m at home, I play with my kids when I’m supposed to.

But when you have to leave home for days and go on set, how do you make up for those times you are away?

Well, usually, when I get back, I try to spend a lot more time with them. We go to the beach or the pool, watch movies, or take a long drive; or we stay at home and play games. I try to make up for so many things.

Who are your best Nigerian actors and actresses?

(Laughs) You are not going to put me on the spot with that. I have enjoyed working with all my colleagues.

There was a time Genevieve said you weren’t a good actor. How did you react to that?

I read the article but I wasn’t bothered about it because that was her opinion, and she is entitled to it. I never responded to it, and I don’t think I will. Nevertheless, I don’t have any ill feelings towards her. Now, whether her opinion has changed or is still the same, it doesn’t make much of a difference to me, because I know I am a fantastic actor and I am doing what I am doing with passion. I am enjoying it and I am making the best I can of it. Having said that, if I am given a job to do and she is involved, I would do the job. I won’t say because she said this, I won’t do the job.

But if you have the urge to confront her, won’t you?

If I meet her at a function or on a movie shoot, I’ll ask her; but I won’t do it through the media. Some of these things people write in the papers or on the blogs are not even true; it’s possible they twisted her words. They do it to me all the time, so it’s possible they did that to her. But when I meet her personally, I will ask her if she did say that. And if she did, the conversation will continue, as to why she said it and how she said it.

You have an accent. What is your background like?

Well, I am a mixture of Dutch, Liberian and Ghanaian.

What was growing up like?

I grew up with two women in my life – my mum and my sister; and we always moved from place to place. I lost my dad when I was six, so I did not really have a father around. My mother taught me how to be strong, do the right thing and made sure I became a good breed – unlike what many people say about light-skinned guys…

What do people say about light-skinned guys

You know what they say; I don’t need to tell you.

I don’t know what they say. I’m also light-skinned, so tell me.

Okay, let me not say light-skinned, but the ‘half castes’. People usually say they are bad boys.

And you are not a bad boy?

No, I am not.

You got married quite young. How do you overcome temptations from your close female friends and colleagues?

Well, I mentioned earlier it’s my mindset: keep it professional. I try to be as professional as possible, and you know sometimes, you have to be in a romantic scene with an actress and still keep it professional because that is the beauty of the job. You can actually be romantic and get the viewers to understand that you are actually in love with a particular lady but at the same time, when they say ‘Cut!’ you don’t have any feelings for her.

Have you ever got attracted to any actress you have been on set with?

I don’t think so. The only one I have ever read about was when they said that I broke up Chika Ike’s marriage. I don’t see how that makes sense; but they said I helped to break her marriage.

What about your female fans? How often do they disturb you?

What do you mean by ‘disturb’?

How often do you get calls, mails and tweets from your female fans?

I wouldn’t call it disturbance; they are people who enjoy my work and want to get to know me personally. Yes, I do get calls often, but I try to adjust. I can’t keep up with all of them, so sometimes I just ignore while sometimes, I try to answer their questions and enquiries.

How does your wife handle your female fans?

She is very cool with them. She understands the nature of my job and she is totally in support of what I do. She has the same mind that I have – which is to keep it professional.

Do you have any weakness?

I find it difficult to get angry, even with respect to acting. It is quite difficult for me to get angry while acting because naturally, it takes a lot to get me angry. And when I have to get angry in a movie, it drains me. But in the past three years, I have been able to work on that

ACTING CAREER FIRST, HUSBAND LATER - ACTRESS

Marriage is largely considered as a sacred institution which everyone would want to experience but for Kumawood actress Faustina Amissah known popularly as China, she would choose acting over getting a husband any day.

Speaking to Showbiz last Monday, China revealed that she wasn’t at all bothered by the prospect of not getting married because she believed marriage “is a blessing from God and if God has ordained it, it would come through”.

“I’m not scared if I don’t get married and I have no worries. I will choose my acting career over a husband because these days if you’re a woman and you’re not working, men view you as a liability,” she said.

According to Faustina, even though marriage is not a priority for her, she is still wary of men who are not comfortable with her work as an actress and said that she would only go for a guy who was at ease with the kind of work that she did. “I’ve seen situations where men come and say they are comfortable with the job you’re doing as an actress, but as soon as you get married to them, then they mount pressure on you to stop. But as for me, that is something I’ll not buy,” Faustina explained.

All she wants, she says, “is a man who understands my work and would appreciate it. If he cannot, then he can walk out of my life.”

Narrating how she came into the movie business, Faustina said it hadn’t been an easy journey for her. According to her, she had been to several auditions for several years but none of them yielded any movie roles until she decided to produce her own movies with the help of an uncle.

This effort produced movies such as Ahuoya, Bo Brapa and some others. However, the director they were working with ultimately took all the credit for the movies she produced and they then had to part ways.

“As all this was going on, I met a director called Jackson and he introduced me to Bandex and that’s where my career took off,” she said.

Faustina Amissah who has been in the movie industry for close to a decade has since featured in a host of movies, Big Boy Weezy, Obama, Obour, Gye Me and others.

Explaining how she got the nickname, ‘China’, she said it was as a result of a role she played in a movie alongside Agya Koo. In the movie, she played the role of a bartender in a bar called Madam China Spot and customers and patrons called her ‘Madam China’ and that was how the name stuck. She said it used to make her angry when people called her China but says she has now got used to it.

China thanked Bandex, Jackson, Frank, Fifii and all her fans for their support and encouraged her fans to look to God because He is the one who lifts people up.

NOLLYWOOD STARS CALL FOR RETURN MATCH

Actors and filmmakers from Nigeria have expressed dissatisfaction for losing a football match against their Ghanaian counterparts in Kumasi last Thursday as part of Ghana’s 57th Independence Day celebration.

The match which was also to raise funds for the Ghana Actors Guild (GAG), saw the Ghanaian stars trashing the Nigerians in a 3-I victory.
According to the Nigerians, the match was an impromptu one and their Ghanaian counterparts also enjoyed the advantage of home support.

They have therefore called for a return match to be played in Nigeria on October 1, which is Nigeria’s Independence Day. Nollywood superstar Hanks Anku was goalkeeper for the Nigerian team and he said he was scored because he did not get enough time to train.

While Ghana was represented by stars like Lil Wayne, Akroboto, Van Vicker, Prince David Osei, Bill Asamoah, Ben Adusei among others, the Nigerian team had the likes of Shegun Arinze, Victor ‘Awilo Sharp Sharp’ Usuagwu, Mama Ajasco, Dave Sam, Toyin Aimakhn, Sopiriye Fiberesima and others.

The event was sponsored by Osons Chemists, Kings Express Travel and Tours and Asuogyaman Company Limited.

ACTOR LIL WIN KNOCKS DOWN 10 YEAR OLD BOY WITH HIS CAR

The most sought after actor, Kojo Nkansah aka Lil’Wyn did not only bring excitement to the many patrons who thronged the Kumasi stadium to watch the football match between Ghanaian and Nigerian actors, he also brought some misery.

The Kumawood actor is reported to have knocked down a 10 year old boy with his Toyota car with registration number GT-8224-12, after the match. Instead of getting out of his car to help the victim, Lil’Wyn sat in his car unconcerned till officials from the Red Cross Society attended to the boy.

As the atmosphere got tensed, Lil’Wyn still refused to follow up to where the boy was being taken to. When he was alerted of his actions, he was so angry and started alleging that the whole situation was deliberately orchestrated to make him look bad.

He yelled in fury, “I am not the one who knocked the boy down with my car! I see the whole thing to be planned because I don’t know where the boy came from! By the time I realized, he was under my car.”

After some minutes, people around entreated him to stop arguing and see to the welfare of the boy. He then gave money to the Red Cross officials and they took the boy to the hospital. When he was questioned on why he’s not assisting the young boy to the hospital, he said that he doesn’t have much time on his side; and that he was going on set to shoot a movie.

When Razz newspaper followed up on the issue, we gathered the actor had not visited the boy at the hospital and the family of the kid was livid.

In a separate chat with Lil’Wyn on phone, he insisted that he did not hit the kid with any car and that he was not ready to discuss the issue.

MUSIGA GAVE US A CAR WHICH IS OF NO USE - R2BEES

Few days ago, Obrafour mentioned to ghanacelebrities.com that there is no ‘music industry’ in Ghana and what we have is a pocket of musicians struggling to make a living out of their hard work.

According to Obrafour, the lack of institutional structures in itself is an indication of a non-existing music industry and until the appropriate structures are created, Ghanaian musicians will continue to sweat for nothing.

Interestingly, R2Bees’s member, Paedae took to twitter today to highlight the plight of Ghanaian musicians — calling on MUSIGA to sit up among others…

Check below for some of the things Paedae had to say;

”Ghana music industry does nothing for the industry/musicians. Ghana music is what it is solely because of the hard work of Ghanaian musicians

Imagine Ghana Blackstars without GFA. Musicians are selling our country to the world through music just like football.

Don’t talk to me bout musiga.

Gh musicians only make money through shows and endorsements. Not cd sales nothing. Radio Tv Pubs Clubs etc play the music for their business.

Without any form of revenue to the owner. And the institution responsible for collecting such revenue prides itself of job well done.

What we lack in the industry is common sense. We’ve employed ppl with big brains but not common sense. Remember most Gh musicians have zero endorsement and barely play shows because there are barely any show

So a consistent revenue for their hard work which is used consistently to run businesses is not too much to ask for. Imagine going to the club and no music or tune in radio no music.Clubs and radio pay nothing to musicians in Gh. Wait some musicians pay dem

What’s the job of a musician? Entertain. Gh musicians are entertaining but they r starving bro. Don’t believe wat they say in da music

Lol

We need an effective structure. We are in the 21st century. Simple technology will track down every song played anywhere in the country

If there are laws to collect these monies that are legally due the Artiste

They gave us a car? Of what use is our car to obidi or samini or shata wale?? I’m talking bout a collective problem here

Or lord Kenya, Rex Omar, obrafuor, TH4 Kwages. Old greats who’ve graced this stage. They are retired with almost nothing

SAMINI DID NOT TRAIN ME - STONEBWOY

After speculations that he learnt how to sing Raga and the theatrics of stage performance under Samini, Dancehall artiste Stonebwoy has finally cleared the air.

Stonebwoy, whose ‘Pull Up’ hit song got nominated in the Reggae/Dancehall category for this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), was under the Samini Music Record Label for sometime before breaking away.

He told News-One that his relationship with Samini was one of mutual benefit but denied reports that Samini trained him.

Stonebwoy, also known as Livingston E. Satekla, explained that he used to hang out a lot with Samini in his early days and that made some people to conceive the notion that he was studying under Samini.

“Samini and I rolled together; therefore most definitely, you should know that there is going to be exchange of influences. I would say I respect Samini so much but to clear the air, check my works and check Samini’s works; can you get any clue?” the ‘Real Warrior’ singer quizzed.

Stonebwoy stated that his flair in singing rubbed off a bit on Samini and influenced the latter to do more singing.

“But you can get a clue from Samini turning to really sing now. He can confess to you sincerely that I am the influence of his singing because you can check all of my records,” he revealed.

“Samini has always been a big brother and will always be a big brother. So you should expect what big brothers would exchange but I believe that it doesn’t always have to go down to the fact that it is only the little brother that gained. We should also check it and understand that maybe the influence of the little brother also made impact to a certain level on the big brother, but that is what it is. Big ups Samini, Shatta Wale, Jupiter and all the uprisings in Dancehall,” he said.