Even though Sarkodie has not been around so long in Ghana music circles, he has managed to create a niche for himself. He is now one of the most revered musicians in Ghana and when it comes to rating in Africa, Sarkodie scores highly.
He knows how to excite his fans at shows and also win the hearts of mere observers at shows that he performs on.
Performance wise, Sarkodie controls the game now. He makes rocking a show look easy. Aside all of these, Sarkodie is very passionate about issues concerning Ghanaian musicians and their welfare.
He has travelled widely and worked with other artistes on other continents.
Currently making headlines is his new song titled
Free Press. In the song, he takes Ghanaian media to the cleaners for what he claims are their silly views against Ghanaian musicians who aspire to put the country on the map musically.
Perhaps, I should not be disappointed at the kind of invectives that Sarkodie heaps on the media but I am. I reckon that was something on his heart that he needed to vent out and as a musician, doing a song was a way he could best say what was up his chest. But I dare say he displays his ungratefulness and some level of ignorance.
In a line of that song, he says “…I’m really doing my best.” That cannot be contested. This means that, if he’s doing well, he expects to be pushed forward than to be pulled back. Also, he says lots of things in that song that many people in the media agree with. This means that, it is not the entire media in Ghana who are against him as he claims.
The question that raises its head here, therefore is whether he, Sarkodie, and his colleagues are doing some things that invite criticism from a section of the media?
This is why I think Sarkodie may need to take a chill pill and look at the other side of doing things, if the present one is not working well to his satisfaction.
As a media person, I may not want to know how much he is paid for a performance but I may be interested in knowing how much of his earnings is invested into his career to ensure that he continues to stay on top of his game.
Sarkodie has a bodyguard that I have written about. He also has a manager but has he got a PR? His manager, my big brother, Sammy Forson, may be a media person before he started to manage him but a job of a manager is not the same as a PR job.
Sarkodie is a success story, without any doubt. If he thinks a bodyguard and a manager are important, then I put it to him that, a PR is equally important to a successful brand like himself.
Social media may have taken over from mainstream media in recent times but the distinction is there for all of us to see, if only we are not in denial. Sarkodie may choose to ignore mainstream media and rely solely on social media but one thing he must know is that, one can control what is put on the former, as for the latter, everything is welcome.
In relying solely on social media to get to his fans, Sarkodie can tweet both good and bad things, the media which is looking for information may clench on the negative tweets. After all, they are not under any obligation to trumpet the good things that anybody is doing.
In his
Free Press song, Sarkodie makes particular mention of why media men from Ghana did not follow him to the US when he was nominated for a BET award.
Well, if he does not know, I wish to educate Sarkodie that small or growing media houses anywhere in the world rely on celebrities for news. This is normal. Most media houses in Ghana are still growing and therefore they may not have the resources to often fly journalists to other countries to cover events that they may have interest in.
That is why most journalists and media personnel are sponsored to international events. For the past four years, I have been sponsored to attend events in countries like Nigeria, South Africa and Mauritius. What prevents Sarkodie from doing same especially when the outcome of the reports would benefit him?
Sarkodie should continue to do what he does best and also get a PR personnel for himself to be trumpeting all the good things he’s doing via press releases to the media houses.
If Sarkodie doesn't know or if he cares to know, he may be bigger than some stars in Ghana but they do the right things that he may not be doing.
eanangfio@hotmail.com or tweet @anangfio
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