Shatta Wale was pushed by the ghetto – John Sam

In the ever-evolving landscape of Ghana’s music industry, the debate over what truly drives an artiste’s success continues to spark discussions. Senior Production Assistant and musician from the University of Ghana’s School of Performing Arts, Mr. John Edmundson Sam—known by his stage name Fanteman Joujiu—has added his voice to the conversation, emphasizing the power of quality music over controversy in an artiste’s rise to fame.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Univers Entertainment this morning, Fanteman Joujiu challenged the growing trend of artistes resorting to negative publicity for attention. According to him, the foundation of a successful music career should be built on talent, consistency, and strategic promotion rather than sensationalism.

“There has always been a simple way of promoting an artiste. Give him gigs, get him more gigs after doing the video. If the music is good, it’s good. I believe managers should focus on what good music stands for and use that to push their artistes instead of attaching negativity to their brand. Because at the end of the day, the artiste may trend, but there comes a time when they lose a lot of things. In our cultural cycle as Africans, there are certain things we don’t want to accept. We want to maintain certain status quos…” he explained.

Samini vs. Shatta Wale: two contrasting journeys to success

To further illustrate his point, Fanteman Joujiu referenced two of Ghana’s most influential Dancehall artistes—Samini and Shatta Wale—highlighting their contrasting approaches to success.

According to him, Samini’s brand has always been built on good music, a strategy that earned him long-term corporate deals, including multiple gigs from telecommunications giant MTN. On the other hand, Shatta Wale, though undeniably successful, took a different route—one that thrives on controversy, bold statements, and an aggressive persona.

“What do you know about Samini that is bad? Sometimes, there have been little beefs with Shatta Wale, but you’ve never heard any serious bad news about him, yet he has made it. The advantage of going through the right path is that it pays off in the long run. People see you as a role model. Samini got many gigs from MTN just because of his music. But Shatta Wale went through another route to make it. The mainstream were not accepting him because of the kind of persona, kind of music he does, [Onyaye S***], excuse my language. This can’t be a song that needs to be promoted. But the sub social media, the new trends, TikTok and the rest, they don’t care, that’s the ghetto, so the ghetto people have promoted him and he is up there and he is still even not winning some Awards but he doesn’t really care because he’s make all the millions of dollars and building mansions.” he said.

Mr. Sam further stressed that while controversy may offer short-term fame, artistes who prioritize quality music and professionalism tend to enjoy more long-term success and mainstream acceptance.

His perspective adds to the ongoing conversation about the power of social media and grassroots movements in shaping the careers of today’s musicians.

Story by: Kelvin B. Annor-Yeboah_univers.ug.edu.gh