Ghanaian musician, Big Joe Frazier, has revealed that he has not received any royalties from the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) throughout his music career.
The rapper revealed that despite registering with GHAMRO many years ago, he has not received any royalties from the organisation.
“They gave me an ID card and collected all my songs and registered me five months ago.”
Big Joe Fraizer
Big Joe Fraizer, who has been in the music industry for over 20 years, expressed his frustration, stating that he has not received any payment from GHAMRO despite his efforts and follow up.
He recalled registering with the organization, but his name is no longer in their system.
The rapper disclosed that his income has come primarily from performances, thanking his hit song “Yaa Maame” for opening up international opportunities and enabling him to establish his record label, JF Project (Joe Fraizer Project).
The experience of Big Joe Fraizer raises questions about the effectiveness of GHAMRO in collecting and distributing royalties to artistes.
Some artists have also voiced out their frustration over non-receipt of royalties while others complained of receiving little amount of money as their royalties.
The Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO) is an establishment under section 49 of the Copyright Law, Act 690 of 2005 and regulated under L.I 1962 of 2010 to collect and distribute royalties on behalf of authors/composers and other rights owners.
Sarkodie Not Greatest Rapper of All Time
Ghanaian rapper, Big Joe Frazier, does not agree with people who put Sarkodie ahead of Ghanaian rappers as the greatest in the history of music in the country.
Replying to the assertion made, reiterated by Okyeame Kwame, Joe Frazier stated that even though Sarkodie is a good rapper, he would rather put Lord Kenya, Obrafour and Reggie Rockstone on that pedestal.
“Greatest rapper? Sarkodie the greatest rapper of all time? I disagree; I can mention many names. To me, I can mention about three names: Lord Kenya, Obrafour, and Reggie Rockstone. They are my GOATs. Sarkodie is doing extremely well, but I think these three are my GOATs.”
Big Joe Frazier
Explaining the reason for his choice of rappers, he said apart from the fact that these rappers had hit songs on their albums, they also had unparalleled stagecraft.
“Sometimes, I factor in the stage performances. Obrafour may not give you hyper performances, but his stage presence was always exciting. Look at Lord Kenya in those days. Most importantly, their albums. Side A, Side B, and Side C. were all filled with hit songs. So come on, I disagree with my brother. Sarkodie is not the GOAT.”
Big Joe Frazier
In a publication, ’12 GH Greatest Rappers of All Time’ were titled, rated in descending order Sarkodie, Obrafour, Okyeame Kwame, Okomfour Kwadee, Lord Kenya, Manifest, Tinny, Reggie Rockstone, Strongman, Eno Barony, Guru, Kojo Cue, Cabum, and Amerado.
This has generated a lot of debate and conversations in the media space.
Aside the rappers ranked in list Ghana can boast of other great rappers such as Lyrical Joe, Omar Sterling, Medikal, King Paluta, Ponobiom, Obibini, Edem, EL, Flowking Stone, TeePhlow, among others.
However, Okyeame Kwame questioned the criteria used for compiling the recent list of greatest rappers in Ghana.
The ‘Best Rapper Alive’ who was placed at the third position on the list said anybody who does a list like that without mentioning EL, Edem, and Flowking Stone may not have consulted rappers during their research process.
In the meantime, Big Joe Frazier is out with a new song titled ‘After Church’ which features King Paluta.
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