Can Bisa Kdei Win 2016 VGMA Artiste Of The Year?

The headline will certainly evoke a lot of emotions and mixed reactions from not only industry persons but among the general public, especially people who do not know zilch about how the music they consume is made.

The idea or thought of Bisa Kdei winning the topmost prize, Artiste of the Year at this year’s VGMA has been trending on several platforms for some time now.

As a nominee, it probably would be no news if he doesn’t win it. He knows it and the people rooting for him know it too, but it would be breaking news should he win it come May 7.

Yet again as a nominee, Bisa Kdei stands an equally chance of winning the big prize just as the other nominees, so the above question may be out of place. However, it makes perfect sense, since the topic has been under discussion for some time now.

The VGMA is the biggest event on the Ghanaian entertainment calendar which aims to recognise and celebrate the hard work and dedication of the various players in Ghana’s music industry.

Dancehall act Stonebwoy is the reigning VGMA Artiste of the Year. On Saturday May 7, 2016, his reign will come to an end as a new artiste(s) would be named as Ghana’s Artiste of the Year for 2016.

He is a nominee in this year’s Artiste of the Year category. What it means is that he has another chance of winning it and to make history as the first musician to win the title accolade in succession.

Competing for the big one this year are VVIP, Sarkodie, Bisa KDei, Stonebwoy, SP Kofi Sarpong and EL. Obiously, it’s a huge category, but this sets of nominees cannot be said to be the biggest ever in the 17 years of the awards. Over the years, we have seen a lot more competitive nominees.

The category may be competitive depending on how one views the nominees; their strength and weaknesses. However, despite now competitive that category might seem, I respectively and strongly believe that some of the nominees are simply nominated to fill up space.

Having said that, I think that, so far as I’m concerned and signals that I have picked around town moves to a certain direction.

The real competition for the Artiste of the Year this year would be between rapper E.L and singer Bisa Kdei, and to a very large extent Stonebwoy. Bisa Kdei however remains the favourite.

“It will come to pass God willing. But we are not there yet so I can’t talk about it. Oh no. I’m highly confident but I don’t want to make noise about it when the time for the event isn’t due. It’s a competition and a game…”

“I’ve done enough. Starting from January to December, I told myself at the end of the year that I want to give Ghanaians two hit songs that will trend across Ghana and parts of the world. And I’ve been able to do that which is an achievement for Bisa Kdei and his team… I deserve to get something next year,” were his words on Pluzz FM’s Morning Show, AM Pluzz when asked about his readiness for the awards and the category.

He has indeed worked hard in the year under review, and his answers also confirmed his readiness and his confidence of winning. But can he win it? In fact, does he have what it takes to win it?

Per the criteria for the VGMAs, the Artiste of the Year category is defined as the Artiste(s) adjudged by the Academy, Board and the General Public as the Artiste(s) with the highest audience appeal and popularity. The Artiste(s) must have released a hit single/album during the year under review.”

Now looking at the category definition, does Bisa Kdei come near ‘appeal’ and ‘popularity’? The former, I’m not too sure but with the latter, I think he gained a lot of it with, especially with two smash hit songs, Mansa and Brother Brother, from his second album titled Breakthrough.

Those two songs are just amazing. They are hit songs and became the unofficial party songs. Of course like I indicated earlier, people who do not know jack about music constantly enjoyed the songs and are still enjoying it.

The word ‘appeal’ clearly doesn’t matter to them. Even when he was on stage performing, all they care about was jamming and not how Bisa delivers on stage. But with a well-structured awards scheme like the VGMA, it goes beyond that thinking and mindset and that’s why there are definitions to each category.

As clearly spelt out in the definition, one has to have the appeal and the popularity to scoop home the award. Performance wise, Bisa may not have still mastered his act yet, as he almost always ‘disappoints’ people whenever he performs.

It will be disingenuous to say there hasn’t been any improvement. There has been but clearly it feels like he has few more people to impress, as there has always been something about his performances that puts people off.

His most recent performance in Ho during the Nominees Jams had a lot of people talking and asking about his readiness to win the Artiste of the Year with the kind of performance he put out there.

I used to think that, the Artiste of the Year award was reserved for artistes who are true performers. Artistes who have memorable performances and leave the audience asking for more even when they have left the stage. I also used to think that, it belongs to artistes who are good at connecting with the fans whiles performing.

But that changed in 2013 when R2Bees won the Artiste of the Year.

What I mean is that, R2Bees won it because they had hits in 2013 and not necessarily because they were the best performers in that year. So why can’t Bisa Kdei win it with the same stance? After all, his songs have had a wider appeal more than any other artiste in the category.

In fact, I do not care who wins the Artiste of the Year, but there is a reason why Bisa Kdei’s name has come out in several discussions, and he remains a hot favourite, whether he’s a good performer or not. Now can he win it?

If I ever get the opportunity to meet Bisa Kdei, I will tell him that, the 2016 VGMA Artiste of the Year is for him to lose!