Nii Ayite Hammond, a member of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards board, has reacted to assertions that King Promise, who won the 24th edition of the program with his album “5 Star,” deserved the Album of the Year title more than Black Sherif.
Speaking to Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM’s Twitter Spaces, Hammond stated that King Promise’s “5 Star” album also passed the test and that Black Sherif’s “The Villain I Never Was” was an excellent album.
“It is true that King Promise’s record checks off all the boxes, just like ‘The Villain I Never Was’ does. When you read the category definition, you discover that hit song and recording quality are not included. ‘And/or’ is what it says.
Therefore, when evaluating them, you evaluate both before making a decision, he stated.
The VGMA Board member also provided an explanation for the change in the Album of the Year category description, which went from an album having the most hit songs to one with technical characteristics.
“At one point in the history of music in our country, we were releasing more singles, which caused the albums to suffer a little bit. People started releasing albums, and we recognized that the definition we had in the past—three or more successful songs—was no longer applicable. Therefore, it was wise for the Board to amend that definition, he added.
He claimed that this criteria presented a problem because they discovered records that, based on critical acclaim, qualified for candidacy but were not well-liked.
On Joy Entertainment Unpacked, he remarked, “We also noticed that there were quality productions that we were overlooking just because we were looking at the popularity aspect, so we needed to bring that one in so that people who also take their time to produce quality albums get featured.”
The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards’ Album of the Year is “judged by the Academy and Board as the most outstanding compilation of an Album that was released during the year under review, measured either by the number of hit songs or by the quality of production.” It must have caused a stir throughout the year.
The 24th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards was held at the Grand Arena on May 6, 2023.
