Shasha Marley
Renowned Ghanaian reggae artiste, Julius Amua-Sekyi, with stage name Shasha Marley, has been candid about his desire to stay away from political parties, especially when it comes to writing campaign songs.
He revealed how he turned down a $50,000 offer to write a song for a political party.
In an interview with Abeiku Santana on his television show dubbed “Atuu” last Saturday, Shasha Marley disclosed that the deal was made only this year, albeit he did not name the political party.
“You will be shocked and shocked to hear that I turned down a $50,000 offer from a political party to sing a reggae song so they could use it to spread their message. I received a call from an old friend of mine who is not in politics, telling me he had a good deal for me.”
“That night I could not sleep, so the next day I visited him at his office and after a long conversation he told me about the deal,” Shasha told Abeiku Santana.
He claims he first agreed to record the reggae song for a payment of $6,000, but after giving it some thought and consulting with his wife, he decided against accepting money from politicians.
“In exchange for $50,000, I agreed to perform a reggae song so they could spread their message. The song cost $6,000 to record, but I gave it a lot of thought as I was driving home.
“My wife asked me about the agreement when I arrived home even though I had already told her. When I informed her that the agreement was about politics, she cautioned me against it, and I ultimately turned down the offer. I can’t jeopardise my profession,” he said.
Writing music for political parties is not a recent development. Political parties use musicians to write campaign songs during election seasons in an effort to win over voters.
Even though a lot of individuals have spoken out against it, this trend still persists.
Diana Asamoah, a gospel singer, recently revealed that she composed a song for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) campaign.
Other musicians have previously written campaign songs for political parties, including Nacee, Sarkodie, and Samini.