Two-Times Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) Male Vocalist of the Year, Nana Yaw Boakye, also known as MOG Music, has explained why Ghanaian gospel artistes are absent from the Grammy Awards.
According to the gospel musician, who was featured on the ‘I’ll Be There’ track on Sarkodie’s album (Pressure), his colleagues hardly express interest in prestigious global awards.
However, he added that he possessed the blueprint to make it into such schemes.
“I have the blueprint; I’ll share with my colleagues. I’m not going to keep it to myself…moving on next year, we will work on it and see what comes out of it,” he said in an interview Hitz Fm’s Daybreak Hitz.
The gospel artiste, credited with a number of hit songs, confirmed the reluctance of Ghanaian Gospel musicians to aspire for international recognition.
He told the host, KMJ, about how a recent survey he conducted, revealed the processes involved in getting gospel musicians to present themselves as materials to international award schemes.
“I was able to connect with people who work on these boards and they gave me the criteria, the process, how we (Africans) can get into that space,” he said.
Contrary to popular perception that it was difficult to gain recognition in award schemes such as the Grammys, MOG Music explained, “It’s very open, but, because we haven’t researched on that side, we think it’s impossible.”
He further intimated that “people connected to these awards claim that they have never received any requests for nominations from Ghana (gospel artistes).”
MOG Music, who is a contemporary gospel singer, songwriter and a pastor, released his first album, ‘New Wine’, in 2016, which earned him African Gospel Music awards for songs like ‘Be Lifted’ and nominations for ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Discovery of the Year’.
He released a single, ‘Making It Big’, featuring Sarkodie.
The gospel artiste has also performed with numerous gospel musicians including Ohemaa Mercy, Joe Mettle, Denzel Prempeh, Jekalyn Carr, Danny Nettey, Nii Okai, and Ron Kenoly.
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