Bisa Kdei's 'Brother Brother' doesn't deserve VGMA nomination

Since he came into the limelight in 2013 after the release of his hit track ‘Azonto Ghost’, Bisa K’dei has been consistent in the Ghanaian music industry and has succeeded in treating Ghanaian music lovers to a repertoire of good melodious and well-composed songs.

This has won him the hearts of many highlife and hiplife music enthusiasts in the country like me.

He has now also grown to be one of the favourite artistes in Ghana who enjoys support whenever he mounts the stage to perform any of his hit tracks at music concerts.

His two recent hit tracks, ‘Mansa’ and ‘Brother Brother’ were undoubtedly among the most played songs during last year’s Christmas festivities.

One could hear the songs being played at various public gatherings like parties, clubs, pubs and weddings alongside hit tracks like, ‘Kakai’ by dancehall star Shatta Wale, ‘Myghty Lele’ by Stonebwoy and ‘Ekiki Mi’ by Wisa.

Both songs - ‘Mansa’ and ‘Brother Brother’ – by Bisa have subsequently been tipped by entertainment pundits to win awards at this year’s Ghana Music Awards organised by Charter House.

With the song ‘Brother Brother’, I personally enjoy the way the lead guitar opens the whole song before the introduction of the smooth voice of the musician.

I also could not stop nodding when I first heard the skillful way the sound engineer who produced the song, Dr Ray Beatz, interwove Bisa’s voice and the lead guitar in a call and respond manner to give it an old school, feel making the song unique.

But in spite of the relentless effort Bisa Kdei and Dr Ray Beatz have put into the song to make it a masterpiece and the tremendous inroads this song ‘Brother Brother’ has made, I personally think that the song does not deserve nomination for awards at the 2016 VGMA.

This is not because the song does not possess the quality it needs to win an award, I strongly oppose to the nomination because the song contains a sexually explicit word, I mean the ‘F word’ which is frowned upon worldwide.

In some parts of the Ashanti region, where I come from, the word has been coined as a catch phrase and used as an adjective to describe the nature of something or a situation.

Example of the use of the ‘F’ word in such circumstances are as follows, I am happy ‘f…….king, I am hungry f……..king and the girl is beautiful f………..king, among others.

However, the use of the word in that sense still does not make it acceptable to transport it into songs meant for public consumption.

I know that someone might ask why I am opposing to the nomination of the song ‘Brother Brother’ while Joey B’s ‘Tonga’ was nominated and subsequently won an award at the 2014 VGMA in spite of the controversy it generated because people perceive Tonga to be vulgar.

But I see the two scenarios as far deferent from each other. The fact is an ‘F’ word is an ‘F’ word irrespective of the meaning one gives to it.

But, whilst ‘Tonga’ is made to connote the description of the female private part in Ghana, Joey B had a lee way out because the same word ‘Tonga’, according to Wikipedia is a kingdom around the Oceania region, centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean comprising of 177 islands, 52 of which are inhabited.

So comparing the two will be like comparing oranges to apples.

Food for thought, couldn’t Bisa K’dei have avoided the controversy lurking in the air around such a good song by avoiding just one word, ‘F…..king’ and replacing it with another word in order to ensure that no negative string that have the tendency to blur chances of the song from being nominated at the VGMA’s and subsequently winning an award is attached to the song.