Dancehall artiste Shatta Wale has refuted claims that he made monetary demands of organizers of the Party in the Park event in London.
Shatta Wale said his only demand was to make Visa and Ticket reservations for his team; something the organizers failed to do. He said he disclosed that willing to perform for free especially because it was his first time and also because he thought it would be wise to perform to support Ghanaian promoters.
To him, he never heard from the organizer of the event even though they had had advanced discussions. He indicated that he wanted the show to be a collaboration between Shatta Movement and the Akwaaba Group even though he was not interested in the proceeds that will be made from the event because it will also help him sell his upcoming album to the world.
“We had a plan for him to do a GOG flyer for me in conjunction with Akwaaba UK so the whole title was going to be Akwaaba UK in conjunction with Shatta Movement – GOG Experience and we accepted that. Secondly, I told him to try and get visas for my team. You know my team is big but we actually came to a conclusion where I could just take four of them with me. I felt it was time Ghanaian artists started supporting gatekeepers so I opted to perform for free. I told him I don’t want to charge him any money. I want him to take all the money he makes from the show but he should make sure he gets these two things done right for me”.
Shatta Wale
Meanwhile, the organizers of the event had a different story to share. According to them, Shatta Wale could not perform because they could not meet his last-minute demands.
“We had agreements with every artist we put on and put in every measure to make sure everyone was here for the event. We booked his plane tickets, everything. As you know some of his team members are here already in the UK. As I know, a monetary demand was made hours before the show. Everybody has a way they run their business and the way they demand whatever they need to be happy so if that’s Shatta Wale’s best way to communicate that to us we don’t have a problem at all”.
organizers
Well, Shatta Wale wasn’t the only artist who couldn’t show up at the event. Ghanaian artiste, Kofi Kinaata was also billed for the event but unfortunately couldn’t make it.
On Kofi Kinaata’s part, organizers explained that they took a wrong decision in terms of timing, so theirs have nothing to do with money.
Ghana Party in the Park which is held annually also featured the likes of Gyakie, Kelvynboy, NUA, Darkovibes, Mista Silva, Camidoh, Ofori Amponsah, Kofi Nti, K. K. Fosu, and Barima Sidney among several others.
The Party in the Park event is an annual event where mostly Ghanaians and blacks in the diaspora meet to network, jam to music, and have fun. This year’s event was one of the best as it featured great young artists from Ghana and some parts of Africa.
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