Ghanaian musician, Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah popularly known as Mzbel has descended heavily on the President of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku Mantey, for calling her music craft irrelevant in the entertainment industry.
Speaking on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, Friday, Mzbel expressed her resentment about the constant criticisms of her song by Mr Mantey, to the extent of her losing awards that seemed rightfully hers.
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According to Mzbel, Mark takes advantage of his position in the entertainment to riducle artistes.
“He sat on radio and said I am not relevant and I trigger people to insult me to stay relevant. And it makes me cry and my children don’t like it. People take advantage of airtime to diss people. If he insults me I will insult him back, I swear. Over the years, he had upper hands. He told people not to vote for me when I sang my 16 years song…”
“He made me lost the award and I didn’t have any platform then. The song won an award in the UK, Italy and Okraku made me lose it in Ghana. I never look up to him because he is irresponsible. You don’t take advantage because you have airtime. I didn’t apologize because he is irresponsible and he knows that…” she said to Andy Dosty.
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Meanwhile, Mark issued a riposte, maintaining that Mzbel hasn’t been the only artist to receive such comments from him as he tends to correct artistes going “wayward” in the industry.
According to Mark, he still stands on his “irrelevant” comment because he believes NDC did her a favour by billing her for some corporate events during their tenure because her songs are not making waves.
The CEO of Slip entertainment cited instances where his so-called “harsh” comments have made a lot of artists shine in the limelight.
“I bashed Sarkodie more than Mzbel. I won’t touch on his talent. Sarkodie speaks like he is rapping. But he knows that when he goes off I will still say it. People like him want to learn. I love the industry I want to see it grow. I don’t hold anything against her…”.
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“She was getting the gigs because she was aligned to a party in power then. When things are not working out for her then we are finding people to blame. Now we know the trick. The word relevance again comes. If you are relevant when the party needs you they come for you. She was getting it because NDC wanted to be nice to her…” he said.
Meanwhile, host of “U Sey Wetin” on Hitz FM, Prince Tsegah advised Mzbel not to get overly excited since stepping on Mark’s toes could affect her career in the industry.
“I think she gets too carried away. She must cool down. Mark is my friend and he has friends in high places. Be careful who you attack. Everyone has preferences. So if someone points out that your lyrics are not cool I think that is his point of view.” Prince opined.