K Oteng
Charter House Ghana, organizers of the annual Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) has released the nominees for the artiste of the decade category for the 20th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
The nominees are Becca, Efya, Joe Mettle, No Tribe and Nacee, Okyeame Kwame, R2Bees, Samini, Sarkodie, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy.
Defining the category, the organizers explained that the criteria for selecting artistes for this category was based on artistes who have had the biggest impact, earned multiple nominations over the years in the VGMAs, have been relevant on the Ghanaian music scene and beyond, been very influential in their music, showbiz and craftsmanship and have been very phenomenal in the music industry over the decade under review.
Becca has been a household name in the Ghanaian music industry, with over 10 years as a singer. Sometime last year, the award winning singer celebrated a decade in music and held a concert which saw an array of local and international stars parade to celebrate her.
Efya has been a female diva in the music industry, winning multiple awards in the female vocalist of the year category. She has put herself on the map when it comes to soul music and afro beats and is the girl you would want to watch perform at the annual Girl Talk concert in December.
Joe Mettle has become a renowned gospel singer in Ghana and the African continent, playing shows all over the world. He is the first gospel artiste to have won the artiste of the year at the VGMAs and holds a number of awards from both home and abroad.
No Tribe and Nacee have been inspirational on the gospel scene over the decade, receiving awards and nominations from across the world with their back-to-back gospel hit songs.
Okyeame Kwame, also known as the rap doctor has had an amazing career which spans over 15 years. He is a multiple award winning rapper and has made statements with his style of rap both home and abroad.
R2Bees, the music duo from Tema were the first artistes to win big as a duo in 2013, winning a total of 6 awards in one night, including artiste of the year. They progressed to earn a nomination at the BETs and other notable award schemes abroad. Till date, they remain relevant on the African continent.
Samini, ever since he released his first hit Linda has remained relevant, winning awards from Ghana and abroad. As a MOBO award winner, his current album Untamed made its way to world billboard chat and is doing amazing worldwide.
Sarkodie is not a strange name when it comes to rap music in Ghana and Africa. Since he made his debut in rap music some 10 years ago and won the artiste of the year, he moved to be the first Ghanaian to win a BET award. He is also the most decorated African rapper with most awards compared to his other African colleague rappers. He is the most nominated artiste at the VGMAs, with over 40 nominations and the first rapper to win the artiste of the year twice.
Shatta Wale, the African dancehall king as he calls himself has remained relevant since he rebranded and came back to the music scene in 2012. A year later, he made a statement when he won the artiste of the year and has since been winning awards both home and abroad. He is also known for his jaw-dropping performances and his ability to pull the crowd to his shows.
Stonebwoy won the artiste of the year in 2014 and moved to be the first dancehall act from Africa to win a BET award. He has since been winning the reggae and dancehall artiste of the year category at the VGMAs and has a number of international awards to his credit. He is also noted to be pulling on a number of features with top reggae and dancehall acts from Jamaica.
Who wins this category?
