Beef - A publicity stunt? - A look at the Ghana Entertainment Industry
Beef seems to be an integral part of the entertainment industry without which some players would stay relevant.
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What is beef? In a general sense, the first thing that would come to someone’s mind is meat or food. However, in this article, beef refers to the feuding between two or more parties.
Some musicians in Ghana have often picked on their colleagues and have engaged in verbal fights with their colleagues. It usually starts with one person throwing the shot and when the one whom the short is targeted at responds, the beef starts.
Many people have wondered whether the beef is a real fight or strategy used by those involved to trend in the news to maintain their relevance.
Source: Instagram
Musicians in Ghana have not been left out on this strategy.
For instance, the most current beef is that between Guru and Kuami Eugene. The former had approached the latter for a collaboration but he refused with an explanation that Guru insulted his boss, Richie Mensah, therefore, he would not have anything doing with him.
The issue escalated to the point that Guru made all sorts of remarks about Kuami Eugene that even got Ghanaians angry. Many people later concluded that Guru had instigated this beef before his fame had died down and he wanted to ride on Kuami Eugene’s fame for trends.
One person that comes to mind at the mention of beef is Shatta Wale. This musician has beefed almost all top artists in Ghana. Shatta Wale has done this with Samini, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, Yaa Pono, Kwaw Kese, just to mention a few.
Shatta Wale went as far as creating beef between himself and top Nigerian musicians, including Wizkid, and Timaya.
He started the beef when he made a controversial statement during an interview with an Accra-based radio station that he does not see and recognise Wizkid as a superstar. This was when the host of the show asked him to mention superstars in Africa. Shatta Wale mentioned just his name and said he sees no Nigerian artiste as a superstar.
Shatta Wale himself confessed that he sparks those beef to stay relevant and on the lips of Ghanaians.
He also termed it a business because according to him, after every beef, he gets a new business role with top companies.
Female musicians have also not been left out in this strategy.
The industry witnesses the beef between Sista Afia, and Freda Rhymes. The two even got physical when Sista Afia actually hit Freda when they clashed at TV3 for an interview. She claimed Freda called her mother names.
They also got physical again when they appeared on Nana Ama McBrown’s United Showbiz programme.
There was also the beef between Wendy Shay and Fantana. What made this beef interesting was the fact that the two female musicians belonged to the same record label.
It was after Fantana was sacked that she claimed that those beef were all planned by management for a publicity stunt.
We also have cases where some celebrities have actually paid bloggers to write bad stuff about them just to help them trend.
Akuapem Poloo, also known as Rosemond Brown, made such a confession when she appeared on the Delay show for an interview.
Before then, Poloo would jump onto every trending issue within the entertainment circle for publicity. She confessed on the Delay Show that she does that for attention, and now she has it.
There are also cases that some musicians have begged their colleagues to start a beef. Quite recently, Yaa Pono called on Shatta Wale for beef because he had not been heard of in a long while.
Shatta Wale, however, declined this and said he would no longer give audience to “underground artistes”.
He referred Yaa Pono to Patapaa to help him “resurrect his career”, as Shatta Wale put it.
Interestingly, no bad blood exists between the beefing artists, as they come back together even stronger than before.
Some also seized the opportunity to release songs while their beef is still trending.
With the aforementioned, beef, clearly, then, is for publicity purposes.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
