JULIET IBRAHIM REVEALS REASONS BEHIND HER DIVORCE

Ghanaian entertainers always make entertainment tabloids and newspapers look bad, especially when issues about them are raised.

They are always on the defensive, spew all manner of invectives at reporters, tell their innocence to the public and portray writers and newspapers as purveyors of false news.

Months ago, Razz Newspaper reported that there was some unrest in the marriage between actress, Juliet Ibrahim and Kwadwo Safo, son of the famous Apostle Safo – a report that was vehemently denied by the actress and the husband.

In anger, the actress even told the paper and its readers to mind their own business and that; all was going well in her marriage.

Over the weekend, Juliet Ibrahim released a press statement, officially announcing her divorce from her husband and pleading with her fans to accept and respect their decision.

Razz Newspaper has conducted some investigations to find out the reasons behind the breakup, separation and divorce of the marriage between Kwadwo Safo and Juliet Ibrahim.

According to sources very close to the actress, Juliet claims that the marriage was a mistake that shouldn't have happened. She said that; she got involved with Kwadwo Safo briefly and in the course of the friendship, she got pregnant. The unplanned pregnancy is what caused Kwadwo to marry her.

The actress shockingly claims that Kwadwo Safo’s family did not support the marriage from the onset. The family of her husband failed to show up for the marriage ceremony and have openly showed their disapproval and lack of support for the marriage.

Juliet also said that; the marriage ended over a year and half ago and another reason for the break up was that – Kwadwo Safo got involved with another lady who was as fair as she (Juliet) and competed for the love and attention of her husband. The source claims that Juliet was overly angry at her husband because the fair complexion of the said lady was as a result of bleaching; so, she wondered why her husband would go in for somebody like that.
Per her account, Juliet also claims that although the marriage ended sometime ago, she and Kwadwo have continued to remain good friends and meet and talk when it becomes necessary.

In another related twist, Juliet is said to have been in a serious relationship with Nigerian model/actor IK Ogbonna right after her marriage collapsed. She spends most of her time in Nigeria and she is reported to have spent quality time with IK. The model even featured in Juliet Ibrahim’s music video to her lukewarm single released months ago.

Juliet and IK broke up recently and IK is reported to have used his social media page to plead to the actress for forgiveness and seeking a comeback.

Razz also spoke to Kwadwo Safo on his take over the news of their break up and he responded that; he’s a very reserved person so the public can rely on Juliet’s side of the issue. He said that; he doesn’t believe in discussing his personal issues in public so anything that comes from Juliet should be considered the truth.

He added that, Juliet Ibrahim is the one who has a story to tell but he doesn’t. He would rather prefer the media to talk on the new ‘4x4 kantanka’ act that he and his father are working on and bringing unto the market.

REGGIE ROCKSTONE TIPPED FOR MUSIGA PRESIDENCY

Ghanaian hip hop artiste, J-Town has endorsed Reggie Rockstone to be the next MUSIGA President, noting that, “ Reggie is the best person to run the association”.

Speaking on XFM’s WANNABE show with Thompson C.D Nortey, J-Town reiterated that the Grandpapa of Hiplife has the welfare of Ghanaian artistes at heart and capable of running their affairs successfully.

J-Town, born Stefen Menson, stated categorically that the only functional Ghanaian music industry was during the days Highlife was at its best and for us to have a modern one, the right people should be put in place to make the industry better.

The ‘Gun and Roses’ hitmaker placed much emphasis on the fact that the media was to blame for the slow pace of hip hop music in Ghana, adding that the media was quick to play international tracks for hours yet demand for “payola” before they play music from Ghanaians.

The content producer for Channel O music Africa advised artistes to take their craft seriously and stated that for Ghanaian musicians to gain international recognition, they have to produce sensible songs, do more collaboration, respect themselves and not settle for anything.

He also admonished his fellow artistes to tell good stories through music.

He asked musicians to be smart and creative in order to improve on trends and condemned artistes who just switch to any trend without any positive contribution to improve on those trends.

The versatile musician suggested the implementation of music chart shows to help determine award winners and decried this year’s VGMA, labeling it as the worst.

According to him, undeserving artistes were awarded for no good work done.

IF I AM SLEEPING WITH ANY MAN, IT IS NOT AN AFFAIR…-PATIENCE OZOKWO

Nollywood actress, Patience Ozokwo, aka Mama Gee, has finally reacted to the speculated affair between her and a Delta State-born politician, Michael Diden aka Ejele.

The actress debunked the rumour and stated that she is not in any romantic relationship with any man at the moment, including the former Commissioner at Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), who is also a Pastor.

In an chat with Nigeriafilms.com, when contacted, expressed anger over the speculation and explained that she has more important issues to handle than having a secret affair with an opposite sex. She also stated that as a blunt person, if such was true, she would have boldly presented the man in her life to the public.

“If I am sleeping with any man, it is not an affair because I am entitled to be married. It cannot become an affair because I am not married and my husband is dead. Secondly, I don’t have any man in my life and I don’t intend to have any man. I have friends and I am entitled to my own friends like you,” she told Nigeriafilms.com.

Speaking further, Mama G said, “It is really annoying when people begin to talk about you with things you never thought of doing. So, to clear the air, I don’t have any man in my life but friends; both males and females and I am working hard to make a living for myself so that nobody will say he/she is affecting my life.”

The actress further denied knowing Pastor Michael Diden a.k.a Ejele, or planning a secret marriage.

“I don’t even know the person you guys are talking about. At this age, I shouldn't be thinking about having a lover. Instead, I should be thinking how to work seriously to make Nigeria grow,” she said.

The 2014 AMAA Best Supporting actress, who was recently spotted in Uganda at the launch of the second edition of the Uganda Film Festival on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, is currently on vacation in London, taking care of her grandchildren and is due to be back in the country soon.

SHATTA WALE NOT QUALIFIED FOR PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Information reaching News-One indicates that Dancehall icon Shatta Wale did not meet the criteria for the BASS Awards Producer of the Year.

Despite calls by entertainment pundits and industry players for the inclusion of the ‘Dancehall King’ hitmaker in the Producer of the Year category, a source close to the board of the BASS Awards said the artiste did not qualify for the category based on some technical issues.

“If you talk about the Producer of the Year Category, you will look at a producer who has done two or three hit songs for a number of artistes.

Now if all the hit songs that a producer has done are his own works, but you can’t really confirm and say oh he produced for two or three other artistes, then he does not qualify to be in the Producer of the Year category,” the source who decided to remain anonymous disclosed.

Clearly, in the year under review, Shatta Wale managed to produce several hit songs which got nominated in other categories, but was not able to produce hit songs for any other artiste; that is why he did not make it on the Producer of the Year category for the 2nd edition of the BASS Awards.

It could be recalled that popular TV anchor and musician Jon Germain was recently in the news calling for organizers of the event to include Shatta Wale in the Producer of the Year category.

SAMINI UNDER FIRE OVER AWARDS: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

It's quite unfortunate that some people think that the rivalry between Samini and Shatta Wale is just a marketing tool used by the two artistes to sell their brands. In as much as the two artistes may be benefitting from the rivalry, it must be emphasized that deep within the hearts of the two artistes, they have something against each other.

In the wake of Bulldog`s detention, many people could not understand why Shatta Wale did not show up at the court even though his dad did. However, it was later on confirmed that Shatta Wale had visited Bulldog a day before the first court proceedings and even wept uncontrollably.

The rivalry between the Bullhaus Entertainment's Shatta Wale and High Grade's Samini which has been on for quite some time now is an issue everybody within the entertainment knows about. In as much as there have been attempts to resolve the differences of the two artistes, as I speak, there hasn't been any headway.

I expect that, notwithstanding the long standing rivalry between the two camps, Samini would have done himself some good by visiting Bulldog. Visiting Bulldog would have earned Samini some amount of respect in the eyes of industry players and some followers of Shatta Wale. I am of the firm belief that Bulldog would even have appreciated such a gesture.

It however seems that, the rivalry between the two camps may have generated into some sort of hatred. I say this because based on very reliable information I have, for the number of days Bulldog spent in police cells, Samini never visited Bulldog to encourage him in those hard times. He didn't even send any words of encouragement through any of his management team members to be delivered to Bulldog.

One thing that is very clear is that, whiles in police custody, Bulldog never expected to see Samini. Assuming Samini had visited him, Bulldog would have been touched and probably changed his stance on the Shatta Wale-Samini issue. Based on the ''love'' shown to Bulldog by Samini while in police cells, I guess I wouldn't be wrong to say that the rivalry between Samini and Shatta Wale would last longer than expected.

Meanwhile, the information that came out that Samini has won the Best International Act in the just ended Black Canadian Awards has proven to be false after checks with the organizers have cleared that Samini did not win any category like that. Truthfully, the award was won by Trinidad and Tobago`s artiste Destra Garcia and not the Highgrade boss aka Daddy Samini. Initially, Samini`s manager Tony Pun had signed a press statement that his artiste won the award in far away Canada but it has been confirmed to be false.

OBINIM'S CHURCH SINGS BISA KDEI'S 'METANFO’

Any time the issue of what gospel music is comes to the fore, there are divergent opinions and that stokes unending controversies. Some time ago, I wrote that I would sing Bisa K Dei's Metanfo and Baaba in church and people thought that I was just starting an unnecessary debate. Of course, I did and I was not scorned nor intimidated by anyone in the church.

Last week, just as I was zapping through my TV channels, I came across a channel called OBTV which I believe belongs to Bishop Daniel Obinim of the International God's Way Ministry. As usual, I got my dial stuck to watch his service, which I always consider a sub-discipline of entertainment on TV. So, just as I was watching Obinim's entertainment show, I heard his professional musicians sing Bisa K Dei's song 'Metanfo' after the Bishop had purportedly healed a certain woman of her illness.

On any day, the real Ghanaian Christian would shudder to sing this song in church just because they think the person who sang it dresses in a certain way or does songs that are generally unchristian. It still engenders the old debate of what gospel music really is, and whether or not the personality of who sang a song could be a factor of describing his genre of music.

It is one of the reasons why I was shocked when none of Bisa K Dei's gospel songs were nominated in the Ghana Gospel Industry Awards. We are growing as a people so we must learn to embrace reality and stop being overly hypocritical.

SARKODIE IS A NEW OBRAFOUR AND THE BEST RAPPER ALIVE – HAMMER

Veteran recording engineer who was very instrumental in the origination of hiplife, Mr. Edward Osei, popularly known as Hammer of the last 2, has opined on the debate of who the best rapper in Ghana is at the moment.

He told Flex newspaper that a good rapper must be one that is intelligent, clever and one who has the ability to knit words that will appeal to the senses of the listener. He added that a good rapper should make use of literary devices in a tactful manner. He also noted that even though rhymes make rap interesting, it must be done such that at the end of it, it makes sense to the one listening.

Hammer noted that even though he admires the likes of Obrafuor and that Obrafuor had been the best during his time with his deep proverbial lyrics, Sarkodie is master at the moment.

“I have never seen any rapper as intelligent as Sarkodie for now because of the speed he uses to compose verses. He can just sit down within 10minutes and create something good. You can’t believe it. Unlike Obrafuor, Sarkodie is about comedy and he is not a teacher or someone who really wants to bring up serious message like Obrafour did. The times have changed and Sarkodie is a new Obrafour. He is the best,” Hammered reiterated.

He also mentioned other rappers like Jay So, Edem and Manifest as some of his favourite rappers.