Organizers of one of the biggest art and music festivals, Afrochella, have threatened to sue popular drill musicians, Asakaa Boys, for allegedly peddling lies about their brand.
This information came to light when one of Afrochella’s co-founders, Ken Agyapong Jnr, disclosed that claims by the Kumasi-based artists, suggesting they were not paid for their performance at the 2020 Afrochella Block Party was inaccurate.
Mr. Agyapong vehemently denied the claims, positing that the artists are only peddling falsehood against the Afrochella brand. Explaining the money was given to the artists’ management, Ken Agyapong, asked the Asakaa Boys to enquire from their management team to know the facts before making false claims.
“If you didn’t get paid, you have the right to say it, but you got paid. It would help if you talked to the management. You just want to embarrass us, and all the blogs are picking it up. Everybody is writing stories saying, ‘Afrochella don’t pay artistes, but they want to go on lavish vacations'”.
Ken Agyapong
Asaaka Boys Wanted to Perform for Free- Ken Agyapong
Ken Agyapong revealed that in 2021, the management of Asakaa Boys petitioned the team to give the artists some minutes to perform at the event. According to Ken Agyapong, the management tried convincing the organizers that the artists were willing to perform for free. However, Ken Agyapong stated that Afrochella denied the request explaining that they had reached their budget limit.
Ken Agyapong disclosed that the event organizers did not want to have artists perform without remuneration, considering the reputation and name they have built for the brand in the past years.
“Last year, around the 24th/25th December, the manager told me ‘Give the boys 10 minutes’ and I personally told them that right now we have exhausted the budget… we can’t let anybody perform for free”, Ken Agyapong said.
Obviously infuriated by Jay Bhad’s comments, Ken Agyapong disclosed that Afrochella was once responsible for securing the passports of the Asakaa Boys to the United States as well as a feature on popular online publication, Teen Vogue.
Meanwhile, co-founder of Afrochella, Edward Asafu-Adjaye, averred that the public lamentation by artists about not being invited for the 2021 edition of the festival leaves much to be desired.
“Having a big festival like that, every artist wants to be on, they don’t get selected then they get a little upset”, Edward Asafu-Adjaye said. “But the sense of entitlement coming from the Asakaa Boys was a little different”.
Details of the Alleged False Comments
In a Twitter Space on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, Jay Bahd, a member of the Asakaa Boys claimed that the organizers of Afrochella requested them to perform for free in 2020 because of Covid-19. He noted that his team had the hope that they would be called back to perform in 2021 when the organizers had more funds. However, Jay Bahd claimed that the organizers of Afrochella resorted to other artists including foreign artists at their expense when the 2021 edition came off.
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