WHILE some industry players are clamouring for a comeback of the Group of the Year category at this year’s Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Charterhouse, organisers of the event, Robert Klah, is highly uncertain if that will happen.
The call has come about following the sterling performance of groups such as Dope Nation and Team Eternity Ghana (TEG) in the year under review.
Speaking to Graphic Showbiz on Sunday, February 16, Mr Klah said it was early stages yet for him to announce the inclusion of Group of the Year when entries for nominations ended on Sunday, February 16, and the board, was yet to officially sit for the selection process.
However, he mentioned the board would not hesitate to include the category if their assessment of the entries of Group of the Year was competitive.
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“I want to set the record straight that Charterhouse has always said Group of the Year will be reinstated if it’s competitive.”
“At the moment, I’m not in the position to say yes or no to the question because the board is yet to meet so the decision will be taken after assessment of groups in the year under review,” he said.
The Best Group of the Year award has been noticeably absent from the awards scheme since 2021, when gospel group Bethel Revival Choir made history and took home the title, beating prominent groups such as R2Bees, La Meme Gang and DopeNation.
Since then, despite continued releases and performances from groups such as La Meme Gang, R2Bees and DopeNation, the category has been missing from the nominations list, sparking speculations over the criteria used by the TGMA Board.
In the year under review, for instance, groups such as Team Eternity Ghana and DopeNation ruled the airwaves with Defe Defe and Zormizor respectively, igniting the conversation of reinstatement of the category since the organisers called for entries last month.
In a letter addressed to the board of TGMA dated February 3, music group, Lali X Lola expressed concern over the issue.
They noted that Ghana's music scene had witnessed a remarkable revival of talented groups in recent years, mentioning Dope Nation, Keche, Team Eternity, Bhad Mayors, and themselves as eligible for the category.
But in response, Robert Klah maintained his earlier position, encouraging groups not to limit themselves to filing for only the Group of the Year since they were equally eligible for other competitive categories depending on their performance in the year under review.
“Why do they want to limit themselves to just Group of the Year when they can file for other categories?”
“For instance, we all know that Team Eternity did well last year and so depending on performance and the board’s assessment, they can file and compete in all the gospel categories including Most Popular, Artiste of the Year or even Collaboration of the Year award if there was any.”
“Same with other groups who may be doing other genres. They shouldn’t be restricted to just Group of the Year, they have many options by filing for other categories,” he said.
