The event went off to a shaky start when a there was a system overload in the power supply to the Accra International Conference Centre, causing a delay in the start of the show which was scheduled for live coverage across Africa via DStv. After almost an hour of delay, the show started and just when we thought things were going to finally kick off, the power went off again in the middle of the opening act by the Accra Symphony Orchestra. After a few more attempts, the show finally kicked off 2 hours behind schedule.
And then came the surprises..Medikal, the hugely tipped New Artist of the Year, who came to the ceremony with 8 nominations including Artist of The Year didn’t win a single award. He lost the New Artist gong to Fancy Gadam. Dobble’s ‘Christy’ won Most Popular Song which came as a surprise to some, just as Flowking Stone’s ‘Go Low’ winning Hiplife Song of the Year.
2017 also saw big breakthroughs for artists who won their first Ghana Music Awards after many years of being in the system. This included Adina Ntembi who won 2 nods for Record of The Year and Best Female Vocalist for her song ‘Too Late’.
The ultimate breakthrough was for Joe Mettle, who set a record by becoming the first gospel artist to win Artist of the Year in Ghana. In total he won 3 awards including Best Gospel Artist and Best Male Vocalist. Also winning 3 awards on the night was Kofi Kinaata with Highlife Song of The year, Highlife Artist of the Year and Songwriter of The Year.
Nacee won 2 nods, Gospel Song of The Year and Album of The Year, while M.anifest also won two gongs – Rapper of the Year and Hiphop Song of The Year.
See complete list of winners is below:
Artiste of the Year
Joe Mettle
Vodafone Most Popular Song of the Year
Dobble – Christy
Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year
Stonebwoy
Highlife Artiste of the Year
Kofi Kinaata
Gospel Artiste of the Year
Joe Mettle
Hiplife Song of the Year
Flowking Stone – Go Low
Afro-pop Song of the Year
E.L – Kaabu Ame
Hip-hop Song of the Year
M.anifest – god MC
Best New Act
Fancy Gadam
Record of the year
Adina – Too Late
Best Female Vocalist
Adina
Best Male Vocalist
Joe Mettle
Best Group of the Year
VVIP
Best Music Video of the Year
Okyeame Kwame – Small Small feat. MzVee
Songwriter of the Year
Kofi Kinaata – Confession
Hiplife/Hip pop Artiste of the year
Sarkodie
Best Rapper of the Year
M.anifest
Album of the Year
The Counsellor by Nacee
Unsung Artiste
Kuami Eugene
Highlife Song of the Year
Kofi Kinaata – Confession
Gospel Song of the Year
Nacee – Yewo Nyame A Yewo Adze
Reggae/Dancehall Song of the Year
Stonebwoy – People Dey
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Paapa Yankson
Best Collaboration of the Year
“Alhaji” by VVIP feat. Patoranking
African Artist of the year
Run Town
