Sarkodie vs M.anifest: Views from industry players

Some of Hiplife’s top artistes have case varying verdicts on the raging feud between rap music heavy hitters, Sarkodie and M.anifest, who are churning out inuendo-laced songs in a who-is-who battle that has dominated the airwaves and social media platforms with uncertain consequences.

A track Bossy, by multiple award-winning artiste, Sarkodie featuring Jayso attracted an immediate reaction from M.anifest who pulled no punches as he released a song, godMC in which he mentions Sarkodie by name and described the BET award winner as a fake who should stop mentioning his name in songs. Sarkodie also responded with a diss track titled Kanta. 

As the storm rages on, one of rap music’s foremost stars in Ghana, Okyeame Kwame, has boldly condemned the banter between the duo, describing it as unnecessary and potentially damaging for the industry in spite of the short-lived excitement and buzz such battles for recognition tend to generate.  

“The emphasis at this point should be ‘coompetition’. This is the new paradigm for music where competitors work together for a common good. 

“ Competition is dead, plain and simple. To put it plainly, it’s the number one killer of the industry. 

“Instead of creating animosity, music should be used to bring fans together so we can concentrate on developing a better performance culture,” the Rap Dacta told the Graphic Showbiz.

On the other hand, rapper, songwriter and record producer D-Black took a rather bring-it-on approach as he viewed it as an avenue which generates good music but was quick to caution both artistes not to go overboard in their rants.   

“This is HipHop culture. HipHop is about braggadocio and claiming king. This is what the basics of HipHop really is, to be honest, besides making great music for the people. 

“This is healthy competition. As long as no one steps out of line, it's great for the culture. Both Sarkodie and M.anifest are great MCs,” noted D-Black who featured alongside Sarkodie and M.anifest on The Chosen, a 2013 music video by reigning VGMA Artiste of the Year, EL.

“I feel like as a unit though, we should be closer knit as Ghanaian acts to take on the continent. That's what's missing,” he added.

Dancehall King, Shatta Wale, however, kept his fans guessing which side of the feud he belonged to, and appears to be enjoying the banter but giving little away. 

His tweets suggested he was having fun watching the two artistes taking a dig at each other but promising to make his verdict known at the end of the month.

“On 30th of July I’ll give Ghana my final judgement on who won the rap disuse please im waiting for the other contestants,” Shatta posted on his Twitter handle last Monday.

“i just love hip hop big up @manifestive  and @sarkodie ..this looks very healthy... cant stop listening to you guys.”

In another tweet three days earlier, the controversial artiste posted “wow ghana is getting sweet…i love beef especially the one’s with no spices… hahahaha i run enter @manifestive ntrotro inside .. hahahaa”.

For Okyeame Kwame, the earlier the Musicians Association of Ghana (MUSIGA) called the feuding artistes to order, the better it would be for their careers and the industry.

MUSIGA Academy Co-ordinator, Ahuma Bosco Ocansey, explained to Showbiz that the culture of HipHop from which Hiplife was derived supported feuds among artistes and as long as both artistes conducted themselves in a mature and healthy manner, it could have positive spinoffs for the industry.

“The emphasis should be about wordplay rather than stirring up ill-feeling among artistes. As an institution, we have provisions for settling conflicts between artistes but as long as there is nothing detrimental going on, we do not want to be seen as stifling creativity of artistes,” he said.