5th June, 2019
Music lovers in Ghana have heaved a sigh of relief as two of the country’s top musicians, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy, decided to end their feud in the wake of a gun-pulling incident.
The rapprochement came to light at a press conference held on Tuesday after the gun-pulling incident last month during the annual musical awards night headlined by the telecoms company Vodafone.
On seeing Shatta Wale and some of his supporters approach, Stonebwoy pulled a gun on stage while receiving the Reggae Dancehall Artiste of the Year Award.
He later explained the act to be in self-defence as he thought his arch-rival had intended to attack him on stage.
Consequently, the awards ceremony came to an abrupt end without the announcement of the winner of the Musician of the Year award.
The “Peace Press Conference” organised by the Kofi Abban Foundation was to promote peace between the two who play a similar genre of music with a huge following among the youth.
“We have felt the punch from each other, and from what some have said. But we’ve come a very long way,” Stonebwoy said.
Fans cheered when the two engaged each other in conversation and gestures on stage at the plush Marriott Hotel to demonstrate their new-found resolve to continue to live at peace.
Shatta Wale added: “We want to apologise. It always happens, but peace is what we want, and it is an example for the future generation.”
The two reggae dance-hall artistes announced their intention to stage a Ghana-Fest Peace Concert later this year as a mark of their resolve to bury the past.
Born as Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr.on October 17, 1984, Shatta Wale, formerly called Bandana won the Artiste of the Year at the 2014 edition of the Ghana Music Awards.
He won with his hit song “Dancehall King.” He is also an actor, having appeared in the films Never Say Never,The trial of Shatta Wale and Shattered Lives.
The relatively younger Stonebwoy was born in March 1988.
He was born as Livingstone Etse Satekla and is an afropop, dancehall and reggae artiste. He won the Best International Act: Africa category at the 2015 BET Awards and Artist of the Year at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards. He also has a music label Burniton Music Group, of which he is the CEO.
*Source: Xinhua