Ghanaian musician Joshua Kojo Ampah, a member of the music duo, “Keche” has described controversial dancehall musician Shatta Wale as one of the most humble artist he has ever met.
According to him, although Shatta Wale is aggressive and loud, he is one of the few people you can trust to see the good in people.
He added that Shatta Wale can be classified as one real person who says things as they are adding that Ghanaians hate people who are real and truthful.
Speaking in an interview, he said that the ‘My level’ hitmaker knows how to correct you when you are wrong which sometimes includes him being hard but that is just his way of doing things.
According to him, he resonates with Shatta Wale because he believes in telling people when they are wrong without sugarcoating words because sometimes you just have to say it as it is to make people conscious of their actions.
Shatta Wale has been touted as the Ghanaian musician with the most controversies in the industry. Strangely enough, the more controversies Shatta Wale creates, the higher his fame and followership soar.
He has managed to ride on controversy and good music to be one of the forces to reckon with in the Ghanaian music industry.
Shatta Wale’s songs were in perfect sync with his personality. He lived his music, identified with the people on the streets, and became a household name. He whipped up public interest in the dancehall and got the likes of Samini and Iwan to join in his lyrical wars.
Shatta Wale and his career
Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr. is a Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist. He is known by his stage name Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana. His best-known singles are “Dancehall King”, “My level” and “We taking over”.
He is also known for ‘Already’ from Beyoncé’s Black is King Album which featured Major Lazer. His song “Dancehall King” earned him the Artiste of the Year at the 2014 edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. Shatta Wale is also an actor who appeared in the films ‘Never Say Never’, ‘The trial of Shatta Wale’ and ‘Shattered Lives’. Shatta Wale’s 2004 recording “Moko Hoo” was nominated for a Ghana Music Award.
In 2014, he peaked at number 38 on E.tv’s “Top 100 Most Influential Ghanaian” Awards chart. He has since then appeared on the chart every year. He was ranked “Most Influential Musician” on social media in 2017. He made a record-setting as a dancehall artist to have won 11 awards at the 2019 3 Music Awards ceremony.
Shatta Wale attended Seven Great Princes Academy at Dansoman, a suburb in Accra, where he demonstrated an affinity for arts and acted in a popular drama series, ‘By the Fireside’, at the National Theatre of Ghana. He then continued to the Winneba Secondary School where he obtained his second-cycle education. He started his young music career with borrowed name and identity-Doggy- a name he took in reverence of his favorite Dancehall artiste at the time- Yoggy Doggy.
Then he changed to Bandana- a name that shot him to fame after a single hit track. He died in music, buried for years, only to resurrect with a new name, Shatta Wale, a new identity, and a solid repertoire of hits after hits.
In 2021, he was nominated for two awards and won the ‘Best Virtual Entertainer of the Year’ Award at the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA).
He was the first Ghanaian to organize a digital concert on YouTube which was dubbed the Faith Concert. The concert was organized to bring hope to Ghanaians and their global audience at large during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He was selected by The Ministry of Communications, Ghana, alongside Highlife musician Kuami Eugene as the headline artistes for the COVID-19 app virtual launch concert held on Monday, April 13, 2020. On Saturday, October 17, 2020, he threw a massive birthday party, which saw attendance by family and friends at his East Legon residence to mark his 36th birthday.
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