It was all fun as Samuel Atuobu Baah popularly known as Sammy Flex and his entire crew stormed the capital of the Upper East region last month to honor a seminar brought forth by the kind courtesy of Happy Man Bitters-Upper East Awards.
It was geared toward the digitization of artists and their brands towards reaching greater audiences and wider markets.
Climaxing the seminar was a one-on-one live interaction between Sammy Flex and the available Upper East musicians of which many made time to pass through.
Rising Ghanaian singer Kilimore tagged the troublemaker by Sammy Flex unravels many dark sides of the vast ethnicity that engulfs the music industry up there.
Introducing himself on the show, Kilimore noted that he isn’t as troublesome as many portrayed but only fighting for inclusiveness since some sections of the region felt sidelined in the showbiz fraternity and his zone isn’t an exception.
He revealed he is from Navrongo but there are times people organize shows using the name of the region but only limit it to the Region’s capital, Bolgatanga and this is what he has been fighting assiduously to end. “sometimes they will bring a program and say Upper East but fix only Bolga artists, so we started fighting and they were like these people are giving us problems. But I have got a manager who is from Bolga and is through him they now billed we the Navrongo artist and they now feel like yh, we deserve what we were fighting for…”, he divulges as he justifies the genesis of his troubles to Sammy Flex.
Touching on why disunity prevails in the music industry in the Upper East, Kilimore subjected event organizers in the region to blame, pointing out that they are the cause for such unpleasant uprisings. He rhetorically quizzed Sammy Flex, that how many people outside Bolgatanga are part of the organizing board of the Upper East Awards. He revealed there is only one person from Sandema who is part of the board which to him is wrong. He said Upper East is broad with varying ethnic tribes and languages and there should be equal representation in everything and more importantly the music awards but not limiting it all to Bolga.
He disclosed he has been chasing a win in the HMB-UEMA though he always gets the most nominations yet ends with nothing. Addressing his grievances, he noted that, participants are not allowed to see their votes and at the end of the day, the organizers only come to announce the winners and that’s what everybody has to go by. He was quick to add that he is always cool with that since it is all part of showbiz. “I always say it’s showbiz, so it is normal,” he added.
He stated he is satisfied with how the production is going in the region but only has issues when it comes to promotion. He indicated that most DJs in the region still have favorites among musical artists giving less attention to those who aren’t on their lists. He reflects that there are times his manager calls to check on Djs from the various radio stations in Bolga but it’s only a few who return that favor by giving them enough airplay. He also disclosed there were times he used to pay money to DJs in his hometown, Navrongo for them to play his songs but now he hasn’t been paying again.
He controversially revealed he is the biggest artist in the Paga-Navrongo zone and without having him on the bill in your show, then you better prepare to record a flop show. He recounted that Tamale-based rap prodigy, Fad Lan was brought to Paga for a show, he was contacted and after charging them, they never appear again until the day of the show, he noted he wanted to go there just to show his support to Fad Lan as a brother, but his management stopped him and it is on record that, the show was a massive flop.
His management ( Up Records) held a two-day Maiden concert captioned “The Bar Concert” in Sandema’s Ojs Night Club to appreciate fans for their unflinching support.