The Shatta/Stone University of Ghana concert saga; the story so far

On Saturday, June 8, two of Ghana’s biggest musicians and probably, biggest rivals in the music industry, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy had been billed to perform at separate concerts at the University of Ghana.

Shatta Wale had been publicised to perform at James Top Nelson Yankah Hall (TF hostel), while Stonebwoy, the reigning TGMA Artiste of the Year, had a concert planned at Liman Hall.

Shatta’s show cancelled

Interestingly, on the evening of Friday, June 7, Shatta Wale was trending on Twitter for rumours that his well publicised concert at the TF hostel had been cancelled since it wasn’t approved by the office of The Dean of Students of the University.

As expected, the said information poured a flood of outrage among Wale fans who seemed very ready that their idol wasn’t going to perform. 

False hope

On Saturday morning and few hours into the advertised time, Shatta Wale kept fueling the energy of his teeming fans with posts on his various social media platforms that he was ready to perform.

Interestingly, there had been word on the streets of social media which was confirmed by a communique from the office of the Dean of Students of the University of Ghana that the show had been cancelled but Shatta seemed ready for a show. 

At 6:26pm on Saturday evening, Shatta Wale wrote on Facebook, “In the next 3hrs I will be on stage @ #TF legon campus ..Dont miss this 🙌🔥🔥🔥”.

But that was never to be. The three hours took forever. 

An enraged Shatta Wale didn’t miss the opportunity to pour out his frustration and disappointment on Stonebwoy when he wasn’t allowed to perform due to “Security reasons”.

Accusations

Taking to social media, Shatta Wale launched a tirade against Stonebwoy, accusing him of being behind the cancellation of his show to avoid performing at the same venue.

In a heated TikTok video, Shatta Wale hurled insults at Stonebwoy, involving his family in the feud.

He alleged that Stonebwoy had used his influence to coerce university authorities into cancelling the event.

Despite Shatta Wale’s claims, investigations later revealed that Stonebwoy had no involvement in the cancellation.

Entertainment commentator, Olele Salvador in a series of post on X (formerly known as Twitter) said that the University authorities had cancelled the event due to a lack of prior approval.

“I can confirm the cancellation of the much-anticipated Reunion Rave and Artiste Night at James Topp Nelson Yankah, which was headlined by Shatta Wale.

“When DTS Intel Africa spoke to a source at the University, it was revealed that the Hall had planned a Reunion Rave and Artiste Night as part of a two-day alumni engagement. However, the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs cancelled the event as it was not approved in the initial program outline submitted for approval,” Olele posted. 

Order from above

According to Sammy Baah Flex, manager of Shattta Wale, even though the concert took place, Shatta Wale wasn’t allowed to perform due to “order from above”.

This has been confirmed by Wave Africa, a youth-focused marketing and communication agency, which employed the services of Shatta Wale to perform at the Reunion Rave Artiste Night on Saturday.

According to a press release issued by the agency today, June 10, they were contacted two months ago by the executives of Jean Topp Nelson Yankah Hall to provide an artiste and organise the event on their behalf.

They concluded deliberations and signed the deal on Wednesday, June 5. This prompted them to secure and sign a deal with Shatta Wale to perform on Saturday, subsequently releasing flyers to promote the event.

However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, the team said they saw online communique from the Dean of Students' Office announcing the cancellation of the event.

The mentioned that they contacted the hall executives, who were responsible for securing the venue as per the contract and assured them they had resolved the pending issues with the Dean of Students office.

They proceeded with the event based on the assurance but during the set up and sound check on Saturday, the Legon campus security interrupted, saying “it's an 'order from above”.

They explained that a delegation from their team met with the Dean of Students and was informed that the event could proceed but without Shatta Wale's performance, to which they adhered.

They disclosed that they have referred the matter to their legal team. 

See press release below:

Signing of Bond 

It is recalled that following their scuffle at the 2019 Ghana Music Awards, Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy were apparently made to sign a bond by the police not to perform at the same venue again. 

The decision was made to avoid the repeat of the unfortunate episode with the brandishing of guns when the two artistes clashed at the time. 

Stonebwoy’s manager, had mentioned that as a reason for pulling out of a Sallahfest concert earlier this year. 

Merqury Quaye, organiser of Ghana DJ Awards had similarly revealed in November last year that he was asked by the police to drop one of the two artistes when he billed both of them for his event.

Meanwhile, Stonebwoy proceeded with his concert at Liman Hall, attracting a large crowd and enjoying a successful event.

Watch Stonebwoy's performance at Liman Hall