Stonebwoy has accused Baba Sadiq of wanton lies concerning his absence at the 2024 Abeka Salla Fest.

The Reggae/Dancehall artiste was reacting to an enquiry by Kwame Dadzie on the Hitz FM morning show hosted by Andy Dosty.

“That’s very preposterous too,” Stonebwoy said when Kwame told him Sadiq reported his manager Chief Abiola had informed him his absence from the said event was due to Shatta Wale, another Reggae/Dancehall artiste, playing the same show.

Protocol

Confirming the Abeka gig was pro bono as entertainment entrepreneur and politician Baba Sadiq recently informed the media, the singer, asserted his abstinence from the event was due to breached protocol.

| Aspiring Member of Parliament for Okaikei Central Baba Sadiq on a church visit 

“We disengaged because [Sadiq] went ahead to post flyers when we were not supposed to be advertised,” he said. “Internally, we’re not supposed to be advertised for these events.”

“We were not paid,” he said, stressing “even if we were,” there was a need to follow the established “modus operandi”. The Burniton Music founder and CEO, and Def Jam Records signee explained this is to simply satisfy “label situations”.

He said he only played the sallah celebrations show at Nima because the organisers did “no proper advertisement”.

He bemoaned he came from “Yankee (USA)” to perform at what he understood was Baba Sadiq’s charity show, only to be blindsided by the latter hastily posting an advertisement: “He even posted a wrong flyer – because of – I don’t even know what his plans were.”

Naming a fellow called Cedric, who was allegedly disappointed by his boss’s actions, he noted his recollection of the events were confirmed by “screenshots” and “evidence to that” effect.

Stonebwoy stressed, “That was what broke us and we couldn’t go,” adding: “And we communicated that to [Baba Sadiq] that we can’t make it anymore.”

According to the eight-time Ghana Music Awards Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, “a few days after” his team and Sadiq’s had noted their displeasure and decision to miss the Abeka Salla Fest, a flyer of Shatta Wale was unveiled – April 10, 2024 – a day to the event.

Silence

He explained, also, “so that the show flows” uninterrupted and sees success, he and his team decided not to release an official statement ahead of the programme to announce their absence, and “this tells you that we had great intentions” only.

Stonebwoy reminded his audience how common it was for even paid acts to do “last-minute” cancellations of their performance, emphasising, therefore, his absence as a pro-bono act was no anomaly.

“It’s not too much of a big deal, in this industry, for people not to show up to perform,” he doubled down. “Except when the reasons are not firm.”

| An Abeka Salla Fest still

Insults

Turning his attention to Shatta Wale mocking his corrected disability, on the Abeka Salla Fest stage, he bemoaned how constant “the insults on my name” were “even unprovoked”. Due to this routine, he said he received the denigration “as normal,” noting, also, the particular day’s rant was “based on what he said Baba Sadiq told him”.

Stonebwoy revealed, however, “the insults went so far,” it raised concerns in his family, evidenced by his father ringing him about it. That notwithstanding, he said, “in that period, it was wise to lay low.”

Finally, when he considered witnessing Baba Sadiq telling Joy FM he did not show up for the said event because of Wale’s presence, he lamented: “Bro, what levels of lies are these? These lies are too much to contain.”

The 2024 Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) Artiste of the Year (AoTY) stressed his team’s decision to stay calm, despite the “attack of character” and whatnot. He said this was demonstrated by the self-control and lack of a response from his team up until he broke their silence in the above interview.

Furthermore, choosing “not to go into” the details “too much,” Stonebwoy assured, “the truth” will be revealed “very soon”.

Meanwhile, with a flyer on Facebook, Baba Sadiq announced Stonebwoy for the 2024 Salla Fest, Abeka main street, Accra, on April 8.