Who Is Shatta Wale? The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Born Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jnr, Shatta Wale is a music producer and dancehall musician. He was born on 17th October 1984 to Charles Nii Armah Mensah Snr and Elsie Evelyn Avemegah. Shatta is also a prominent songwriter and sound engineer.

Shatta Wale completed his high school education at Aguafo Secondary School, where he was popularly known as “Baby boy”. Upon completion of his secondary school education, he changed his name to Bandana. He achieved considerable popularity in 2004 when he released his single “Moko Hoo” which featured Tinny, a very prominent musician at that time. The Song earned him a Ghana Music Award nomination.

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After a ten year disappearance from the scene, the musician returned as a re-branded, rejuvenated, re-inspired Shatta Wale.

Releasing a hit titled “Dancehall King” in 2013, Shatta Wale announced his presence in style to the rest of the Ghanaian music industry. Sparking controversy by releasing a “diss” song titled “Me no need no award”, Shatta took a swipe at the organizers of the Ghana Music Awards, claiming they had robbed him of his award in favour of fellow artist, Kaakie.

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Some Pundits are of the view that it is this diss song that shot Shatta to fame. Well…that may be true, but the fact still remains that the re-branded Shatta Wale captivated hearts by dint of hard work, sheer tenacity and efficiency, building arguably the most powerful and loyal fanbase in the process.

Releasing hit by hit, The Guardian newspaper in the UK reported in May 2014 that Wale’s song “Wine Ya Waist” featuring Nigerian musician Davido was one of five “must-listen-to” songs. That same year, his song titled “You Can’t Touch Me” was widely used for the Dancers Against Racism Campaign Worldwide.

In an unexpected but unsurprising gesture, Wale was all over the news in 2015 after he asked not to be nominated in the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards knowing he could easily have won the prestigious Artiste & Song of the year with his hit songs Dancehall Commando featuring Sarkodie, Party all night long featuring Jah Vinci, Wine ya waist featuring Davido and Korle Gonno among many hit songs he released the preceding year.

Shatta Wale’s ‘After The Storm’ album launch which was held at the Black Star Square in Accra Ghana on April 29, 2016, attracted over sixty thousand people whom he thrilled with countless songs. The album contained a list of 22 songs and it received generally positive review from music critics.

Known to be a Christian and a philanthropist, Shatta has on numerous occasions donated to the needy and less privileged in society. He has also supported some hospitals and police stations in the country with various donations at different points in time.

Shatta has won several awards including Artist of the year at the 2014 Ghana Music Awards, African Artist of the year at the 2014 Nigerian Entertainment Awards and Best New Entertainer at International Reggae and World Music Awards.

Wale also won Highlife song of the year and Reggae Dancehall song of the year with his songs; my level and Gringo respectively at the 2019 Ghana Music Awards. These awards were later stripped from him after an embarrassing brawl with the artist, Stonebwoy on stage.

Known to be vocal and controversial, it is a fact that Shatta Wale is a non-conformist. Expressing his genuine feelings has led to a fracas between himself and even some of his known friends. Of significant mention is his current “beef” with Sarkodie, whom he had formed a formidable partnership, and with whom he probably shared the accolade, as “the biggest” musicians in Ghana.

Shatta has two kids. Even though he was known to be traditionally married to his girlfriend “Shatta Michy”, that relationship is currently uncertain after a misunderstanding between the two at a point. The artist has jokingly expressed that he will finally settle down when he is 72 years old.

Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com