The nominees for the 19th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards have been out for a while and among the many things that have caught my attention was the inclusion of female Ghanaian rapper Eno Barony.
In as much as the loner has done so well holding on the fort for female rappers, I honestly do believe she did not deserve her nomination and this is not an opinion but a statement of FACT.
Just as I did with MzVee’s Sing My Name Remix securing the Best Collaboration of the Year nomination over Fancy Gadam’s Total Cheat, here we are with Eno’s Fear No Man.
I mean, how does MzVee's "Sing My Name" Remix. Pay attention, remix with Patoranking make it to best collaboration over than "Total cheat". Category definition hints on popularity.
— The Youth President (@nydjlive) March 3, 2018
First and foremost let me congratulate Eno Barony for securing a nomination in the Best Rapper of the Year category at the 19th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards with her single Fear No Man. Through no fault of hers, she grabbed a nomination and that’s fine.
My problem however is with the VGMA board that did the selection. Why so?
Let’s break it down. The single for which she was nominated featured on her debut album Yaa Asantewaa which was released on 30th December 2017.
Prior to that, the single Fear No Man had not be released or leaked as they often say. I remember receiving an official mail from her management with the song attached on January 2 2018 as the foremost single the team wanted to promote.
Now per the category definition of the Best Rapper of the year as of the 18th edition of the awards; ”The Best Rapper of the year is adjudged by the Academy, Board and the General Public as the rap Artiste with the best word compositions, rhymes and rap dexterity on a popular song released in the year under review.”
In critically analysing the definition, the basic factor to secure a nomination in this category is to have had rap song which was popular. The others including word compositions, rhymes and rap dexterity are mere top ups.
Now the question is, how popular was Eno’s single Fear No Man within the calendar year of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards? I mean with just a day to close the year 2017?
Was she nominated top of head, to appease the female rapper, did the board redefine the category definition or were carried away by the fact that the song had had an appreciable airplay in 2018? Perhaps the board considered the other elements forgetting the year under review.
Well, this is not to take anything away from the female rapper who has over the past few years pushed through a male dominated industry to make her presence felt. She indeed did well on the song but the category definition which guides the awards scheme gave her out.
As it stands, she remains the first female rapper to ever secure a nomination in the Best Rapper of the Year category at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and she obviously feels proud.
Anyway, Fear No Man is track 15 on the ‘Yaa Asantewaa’ album and you may want to listen.
It is indeed a beautiful song and she did go in hard on that track.
