Ghanaian hiplife/hip-hop musician Guru vents his annoyance on the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards board and the organisers, Charterhouse, for handing Kwesi Arthur the “Best Rapper of the Year” award.
Kwesi Arthur beat EL, Strongman, Medikal, Sarkodie, Teephlow and Eno Barony to win this year’s VGMA “Best Rapper of the Year” award. He has been congratulated by many industry players and fans alike, but Guru says he didn’t deserve the award.
According to the “Lapaz Toyota” hitmaker, Eno Barony and Strongman were the strong contenders ahead of Kwesi Arthur.
No artiste will dare to defend Kwesi Arthur’s award. Kwesi Arthur knows this himself,” Guru – who has been denied by the VGMA board for years despite creating massive nationwide hits – told Abeiku Santana on Okay FM.
If Ghanaian musicians support each other, they would come out to speak the truth about the award scheme. They will speak the truth about who deserves what.”
“The ‘Best Rapper of the Year’ award was between Eno Barony and Strongman. Never tell me that Kwesi Arthur deserved it. If you argue the BET is won by foreign energy and one’s fluency in the English language, I would agree. But if you come out to say Kwesi Arthur rapped better and made more impact than Eno Barony and Strongman under the year in review, then I will have a problem with you.”
When asked if Medikal deserved it, he said the Sowutuom-native would have handed it over to Strongman.
“Even if the award was given to Medikal, he will hand it over to Strongman.”
He concluded: “Ghanaians simply hate the truth. If we like the truth, the musician would have come out to dispute Kwesi Arthur’s win.”
Maradona Yeboah Adjei was born May 7, 1987. He is known by his stage names Guru and Gurunkz. He is a Ghanaian rapper and fashion designer. Guru is one of the most successful hiplife artist in Ghana. He is known for his contemporary hiplife rap style that combines English and Ghanaian indigenous languages. Guru’s breakthrough was in 2011 when his hit song “Lapaz Toyota” appeared on the Ghanaian music charts. Guru’s is considered a contemporary hiplife artist, as his songs venture new ground in the Ghanaian music scene mixing hip-hop, afrobeats, highlife and dancehall sounds.
Guru recorded his first mixtape video with Ghanaian music artist Sarkodie in late 2009.[1] His first major feature, bringing him into the national spotlight, was on Obrafour’s song “Kasiebo”,[6] where he was named best featured artist by 4Syte TV Music Video Awards. He came out with his first studio album titled Platform, which also featured Sarkodie. Platform received six Vodafone Ghana Music Award nominations.
In 2015, Guru collaborated with Sarkodie on the song “Baggy Jeans”. At the 2015 Ghana Music Awards, he received a nomination for hiplife / hip-hop artist of the year and best hiplife song of the year for “Pooley Swag”. He was described by hip-hop artist Jidenna as one of the greatest hip-hop artist in Africa along with WizKid, Don Jazzy and Akon. In spite of several nominations for music awards, including four major categories in the 2015 4Syte Music Video Awards in 2015, Guru has yet to win any causing some to wonder if there is some inner industry turmoil.
In 2018, Guru released his album Journey of Judah featuring Harrysong, Sarkodie, Lil Shaker and Ofori Amponsah.