It was that time of the year; the time where the average Ghanaian music fan is either glued to their TV screen or their phones to enjoy the annual staple event of the country’s music and creative industry. Ghana’s Premier Award ceremony celebrated its 25 years of existence with its annual show held on Saturday, June 1st in Accra, Ghana. The ceremony sought to reward the Ghanaian artist for their contributions to the industry and the overall entertainment of the Ghanaian fan. Star-studded red-carpet appearances, electrifying performances, and award presentations and controversies were some of the things fans would look forward to at the annual award ceremony.
The award show, which over the years had been known as the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), recently had a makeover with the show being renamed the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) due to its headline sponsor Vodafone Ghana transitioning into Telecel Ghana. The name change coinciding with the show’s 25th anniversary had everyone in anticipation of a new and improved viewing experience.
Lights mounted, Cameras adjusted, and with the final preparations done and out of the way, the stage was set for another evening of great music and lively performances. Hosted by Chris Attoh and Naa Ashorkor with the world-renowned DJ Black behind the turntables, it looked like the audience and the viewers at home were in for fun ride. However, right from the start of the show, it seemed like it was not to be. Most of the problems that had plagued the award show over the years still lingered. Before the show would even commence, Amaarae, who had been billed to perform at this year’s TGMAs, would make a statement on X, citing the lackadaisical and seemingly indifferent attitude of the production team in regard to her performance, forcing her decision to withdraw from the show. That wouldn’t be the only issue of the night; King Promise’s performance to kickoff the ceremony was marred with technical difficulties with many viewers taking to social media to complain about the sound throughout a performance that was meant to set the tone for the rest of the show. Most of the performances at the early stages of the show were subpar with some of the artists experiencing sound difficulties and the others just rushing through their performances. Most of the award presentations were very underwhelming as well, as some of the presenters sought to rather use the platform to market themselves and their brands instead of building hype towards the award announcement.
The show would however pickup over the course of the evening. This year’s stage setup was better than the previous years allowing more room for the artists to showcase their stage prowess and entertain the crowds. Some of the artists who took up the challenge this year, owned the stage, and delivered electrifying performances were FRA!, Nana Yaw Ofori Atta(One-Man1000), Efya Nokturnal and King Paluta. Their performances would bring life to the award show and remind the audience and viewers why they were invited to perform at the show this year. Efya is an accomplished veteran and one of the leading voices in the African music industry for over a decade now but also a student of the game and last night’s performance proved just that. With perfect stage mastery, great use of props, crowd engagement, and flawlessly executed choreography, she gave the audience a performance one would normally pay money to watch on Broadway. We would say a star was born last night but this star has been shining for a long time now. Kwabena Kwabena, Eno Barony Fameye, and Epixode would continue the streak of good performances and deliver a beautiful medley in celebration of this year’s Lifetime Achievement award recipient, Amakye Dede. Stonebwoy would live up to his name as one of the best stage performers on the continent and deliver one of the highlight performances of the night, starting his set with the 2024 TGMA International Collaboration Of the Year award winning song, Manodzi. The Gospel Artist of the Year, Nacee, would however steal the show by bring a marching band on stage to perform a unique live rendition of Aseda. He would end his set by paying tribute to his longtime music collaborator, the late Koda. 30 years of Hiplife was also celebrated by one of the pioneers of the genre, Reggie rockstone.
Regardless of how you feel about the award show, one cannot deny its importance. A lot of artists have had their career trajectory altered significantly well upon winning an award of any category. The Ghana Music Awards is coveted and as such, a lot of artists streamline their crafts and careers in order to win at least one, to cement their names in the history books. This year’s winners are no different and thus were duly celebrated.
Let’s take a look at the winners of the 2024 TGMAs:
1. Artist Of The Year
Stonebwoy
2. Album Of The Year
Stonebwoy – 5th Dimension
3. Telecel Popular Song Of The Year
King Promise – Terminator
4. Best Gospel Song Of The Year
Nacee – Aseda
5. Best Male Vocal Performance
Kofi Karikari (Team Eternity) – You Are Great
6. Best Female Vocal Performance
Queendalyn Yurglee – Hold My Hands
7. Best HipLife Song Of The Year
King Paluta ft. Kuami Eugene – Y’ahite Remix
8. Unsung Artist Of the Year
Kwesi Amewuga
9. Best HipHop Song Of The Year
Sarkodie – Otan
10. Collaboration Of The Year
KiDi ft Stonebwoy – Likor
11. International Collaboration Of The Year
Stonebwoy ft Angelique Kidjo – Manodzi
12. Best AfroPop Song Of The Year
King Promise – Terminator
13. Best Afrobeats Song Of The Year
OlivetheBoy – GoodSin
14.Best Reggae/Dancehall Song Of The Year
Kofi Kinaata – Effiakuma Love
15. Best Music Video Of The Year
Kuami Eugene ft Rotimi – CryptoCurrency
16. Lifetime Achievement Award
Amakye Dede
17. Producer Of The Year
MOG Beatz
18. Best AfroPop/Afrobeats Artist Of The Year
King Promise
19. Best Highlife Song Of The Year
Amerado – Kwaku Ananse
20. Best African Artist Of The Year
Davido
21. Best Gospel Artist Of The Year
Nacee
22. Best Highlife Artist Of The Year
Kuami Eugene
23. Best SongWriter Of The Year
Stonebwoy – Manodzi ft. Angelique Kidjo
24. Best Rap Performance
Strongman
25. Reggae/Dancehall Artist Of The Year.
Stonebwoy
26. Best Hiplife/HipHop Artist Of The Year
Black Sherif
27. Record Of The Year
Stonebwoy – Manodzi ft. Angelique Kidjo
28. Engineer Of The Year
Mix Master Garzy
29. Best New Artist Of The Year
King Paluta
30. Music For Good Award
Eugene Zuta
This year, the positives outweigh the negatives by a wide margin and although the show cannot be marked as near-perfect by all standards both local or international, it can considered good enough befitting a 25-year milestone event. However, the annual event has a lot of room for improvements such as better transitions between segments, investments in quality sounds, and more. Hopefully some of these will be seen in the subsequent ones.
