REWARDING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

                                 

Over the years, entertainment in Ghana has improved tremendously in the field of fashion, movies, music and events management. Some events houses in the industry are Charter House, Empire Entertainment, Global Events, + 233 Connect, just to mention but few.  Some of these events houses have acknowledged the talents and hardwork of our industry players and celebrities by organizing awards nights to reward their creativity and innovation.  

An award is something given to an individual or a group of people to recognize their excellence in a certain field. They could be signified by trophies, title, certificates, medals, badges, pins or ribbons. In Ghana and other parts of the world, the mass media is the bedrock of the entertainment industry. The RTP Awards is organized by Global Events Ghana to recognize and reward seasoned radio and television personalities who have over the years contributed immensely towards the development of the industry in Ghana and have also endeared themselves to listeners and viewers. Some other Awards Night held in Ghana by the entertainment industry are the Ghana Music Awards, 4Syte Music Video Awards,  Ghana Movie Awards,  Ghana DJ Awards, Gh Model Awards, Ghana Social Media Awards, Hi-Skull Entertainment Awards and a whole lot more. Obviously, music grows more each day in Ghana even with the institution of Underground Rappers Association which promotes upcoming artistes in Ghana on the Kasahare Level Programme on Adom fm hosted by Pope Skinny.

 Music from Ghana is now a force to reckon with both in Africa, and across the world.  Since the 1930’s, the Ghanaian traditional highlife had its moments thrilling the native fans to make their Saturday dance nights, a moment to relish and cherish. In the early 1970’s, traditionally styled highlife was overtaken by electric guitar bands and pop-dance music, which was termed “Borga- Highlife”. By the late 1990s, a new generation of artists created the genre Hip-life, which was a fusion of western hip-hop and contemporary highlife. This movement was headed by the Godfather of Ghanaian rap music, Reggie Rockstone.  Hip-life, since then, has offered life changing opportunities to musical talents such as Obrafuor, Samini, Sarkordie, Kwaw Kessie, VIP, Kwaadei, and lots more.

Currently with Ghanaian music at its prime, creative music videos were needed, to further push local productions from Ghana into the global market. Lately the Ghana music industry has been flooded by thousands for music videos from various artistes under various genres such as r’n’b, hip-hop, dancehall, highlife, afro-pop, reggae, jazz and other forms of music categories. To award producers, creative directors, production houses and artistes for their creativity, 4SYTE TV, in 2009, launched the 4SYTE music video awards, to serve that honorary purpose.

4Syte TV is one platform that has really made our Ghanaian celebrities step up their game in their mode of life in terms of dressing, musical content, film making, news reportage and public speaking.

However, 4Syte TV has inspired me to give thorough background information and update about their music video awards.  

The 4SYTE music video awards is an annual event designed to acknowledge record labels and productions house in Ghana and Africa, for their contributions towards promoting music through motion pictures. The event is in its 5^th year, and since its inauguration in 2009, organizers have partnered with various institutions such as Vodafone Ghana, Mtn Ghana, and Ghana Brewery Limited to enable the project run smoothly each year, to achieve its set objectives. 4SYTE music ward began as a single night event, full of glitzy fashion and exclusive performances from various artistes, both locally and abroad.  Categories for awarding winners include: Best Photography video, best edited video, overall best video, and other categories under various music genres. Music lovers also get a chance to vote for their favorite stars so they could win a prize. The 4SYTE music video award was the first of its kind to be launched in Ghana. It awarded winner based on the clarity of the storyline or concept, special effects, photography and quality of editing.

The music video award scheme has aided the Ghanaian music industry gain international recognition and created an open market for artistes to market their brands, as well as created a wide range of business opportunities for the country’s creative industry. In 2011, the platform attracted the likes of a renowned American film maker, Samad Davis, whose work “Dadie Kye” for the self-proclaimed African dancehall king, Samini, clinched a nomination at the 2011’s edition of the music video award. 

In 2011, the 4SYTE music video wards added nominees jam to spice up the concept.  This created an opportunity for the fans to interact with the stars nominated before the main event, which is mostly in November. The 4syte crew with the nominees each year, tour nationwide to excite the moods of the audience, and party with them throughout the night.  The nominees jam, since its launch, has been held in Cape Coast, Takoradi, Kumasi and Accra. The organizers also added the best African act to strengthen relationship between African artistes and contribute their quota to promoting African music world wide. The 2013 edition kicked off with a nominees jam in Kumasi on the 12^th October, 2013. The man of the moment, dance hall icon, Shatta Wala, rocked the stage as the crowd chanted excitedly, catchy phrases from his hit songs and Kwaw Kesse made an “insane” appearance with the crowd chanting wildly under his spell. Others include Tiffany, VIP, Jupiter, Dee Money, and many more. Annually, the 4SYTE music video awards create networking opportunities for investors in the music industry, and also forms a network for colleagues and industry leaders to share information and develop potential policies that is geared towards industry development of the creative industry.

Source: Nana Osei Kyei Mensah ( Flash Africa)