The narrative of Shatta Wale’s journey to glory is an intriguing tale of an audacious young man who fought against an industry, the media, peers, and critics to carve a strong niche for his musical career. When his career resurrected in 2013, after being dead for ten years, there were several predictions he would fall, never to rise again. Yet each year, Shatta Wale continues to drop chartbusters with or without recognition from the VGMAs, and fewer media hype.
He’s probably the most criticized artiste in the Ghanaian entertainment industry, nevertheless, he appears to be the most enterprising amongst his colleagues. “When I started this music career, most people said I won’t reach anywhere. I bought a Pentium 2 pc, installed fruity loops and started playing beats and all I could hear people say was, my beats were too dry and sounded like “konko” (noise) but Paa Kwesi Of “Tv 3 Music Music” fame gave me the opportunity to showcase a song I recorded called “Dem A Funny”… he believed in my beat and that motivated me,” Shatta Wale said, reflecting on his struggle to success.
For many years, Wale roamed the streets and performed on stages in ghettos, beaches, pubs, whilst building a deep connection with his fanbase. Eventually, they crowned him King, and at the moment, he’s one of the most sought after brands across the continent. The Golden era of Shatta Wale began when he dropped the “After The Storm Album” in 2016, then last year, with a massive concert tagged as “The Reign Concert”, he released the “Reign Album” which peaked No. 6 on Billboard’s World Album Chart just few days after its release. This year, the second edition of the Reign Concert was held at the same venue in Accra, the Fantasy Dome, nicknamed “Shatta’s Ark” when he single-handedly sold out its 20,000 capacity. At the event, Shatta Wale unveiled the “Wonder Boy”, 13 track album which is a blend of dancehall, afro beats, highlife, and hiplife genres.
The 2019 edition of Shatta Wale’s Reign Concert was awesome! Artistes that were present included Joyce Blessing, eShun, J Derobie, Kofi Mole, Dope Nation, Kwamina MP, Kuami Eugene, Wendy Shay, Macassio, Medikal, Epixode, Jupitar and a host of others. One person we least expected to see on stage was Kwaw Kese, due to his recent beef with Shatta Wale. During his performance, he was booed and pelted with bottles but that didn’t deter him from giving the audience a dose of street madness. In due course, the crowd got what they came for, to get highly intoxicated on joints from Shatta Wale. There was no dull moment as the audience chanted excitedly, catchy phrases from popular songs of their favorite superstar. Shatta Wale also performed few songs from his current album. Finally, Wonder Boy is out now! (Flash Africa)
Stream Wonder Boy album here; https://audiomack.com/album/shatta-movement/wonder-boy
