Ghana Meets Naija On Stage

There has been a long lasting relationship between Ghanaians and their West African neighbours from Nigeria in many areas of their existence.

These include politics, international relations, sports, arts and entertainment to mention a few.

Sometimes the relationship has been strong and some other times it has been tenuous and tension filled with the two English speaking neighbours suspecting each other of trying to undo the other to be on top of everything in the sub-region. That includes mutual repatriation.

The underlying cause of this tension has to do with how each set of citizens think they are the best in all areas of human endeavour.

One of those areas where Nigeria has shown a rising strength in recent times is music as indicated by the number of their songs that get prominence on Ghanaian radio as well as their artistes who have won pan-continental music awards.

Such young artistes as D-banj, J Martins, Asa, P-Square, 2Face Idibia, Naeto C and Ikechuku have portrayed themselves that they are capable of standing up to any artistes' anywhere on the continent and beyond.

It is also a fact that their Ghanaian counterparts would not allow themselves to be left behind as they have also in recent times upped their game on the music scene and have churned out top songs that have given other African artistes a run for their money.

On their part the Ghanaians have such heavyweights as VIP, Sarkodie, Kwaw Kesse, Efya, Castro, R2Bees and D-Black who all can hold their own against any Nigerian opposition on any platform anywhere in the world.

That would not be for long as tomorrow July 1, would be the day on which artistes from the two powerhouses in West Africa would pitch camp against each other in a concert dubbed 'Ghana Meets Naija, the Showdown' to determine which of the two sets of performers could best entertain their fans.

There may have been numerous occasions where artistes from Ghana and Nigeria have performed on the same stage; however this concert being organized by Empire Entertainment is the first to virtually bring musicians from the two countries on a head-to-head manner.

The Ghanaian 'delegation' includes some of the top hiplife bangers like reigning GMA Artistes of the Year VIP, former GMA Artiste of the Year Sarkodie, female sensation Efya, 4x4, Castro, Guru, Ruff and Smooth, D Cryme, Stay Jay.

These are the people ready and willing to take on their Nigerian counterparts boot for boot tomorrow night at the Dome of the International Conference Centre for the Republic Day jam.

On their part, the Nigerians are coming with a strong force of some of their most prolific and stage dominating artiste such as multiple award winner 2Face, J Martins, Naeto C and 9ice. These are the gentlemen poised to give their Ghanaian counterparts a real beating in hip-music.

'We have been enjoying music produced by some of the top Nigerian musicians and have on occasions been to concerts they have featured in Ghana, but we have not had the opportunity to see them perform on a platform that also has a strong contingent of our own artistes to take them on,' says the CEO of Empire Entertainment Nat Anokye Adisi, known popularly as Bola Ray.

'Nigerians consider us as their brothers and we do same hence this show is not meant to be a competition but rather a platform for musicians from the two countries to show their good stuff to fans from both countries.'

The 'Ghana Meets Naija' showdown is sponsored by rLG Communications, Smirnoff, Royal Richester, Digital Innovation and BSL Clothing.