Bola Ray On Fire: Over Ghana Meets Naija

On Saturday June 30, the biggest ever music concert in Ghana, ‘Ghana Meets Naija’ will take place at the Dome of the Accra International Conference Center.

The 2011 edition has been rated as one of the very best concerts of the year and expectations are very high in anticipation of the June 30 event.

The event is put together by Empire Entertainment and NEWS-ONE spoke to the company’s Chief Executive, Nathaniel Kwabena Adisi aka Bola Ray aka Bolas.

NEWS-ONE: How prepared are you?

Bola Ray: Very much prepared and we are all fired up for the action and the buzz is in town.

Many are expectant about it and industry paddies have put it as the biggest thing to happen on the scene as it did last year in terms of the attendance, the production and performance.

It is the talk of town as it stands now and we all cannot wait for the 30th. This is the most activated event for 2012.

NEWS-ONE: How different would this be from last year’s?

Bola Ray: For us, the challenge is that we have to beat our own performance. That is the yardstick and for us that is the competition out there and we have to outdo what we did in 2011

NEWS-ONE: How exactly?

Bola Ray: Well we had few sponsors last year but this year is different. We have MTN, giants in the industry, supporting us as lead sponsor.

We have Hennessey coming on board as a big player; we have Rlg, another giant in the industry as well and we are actually going to make it experiential.

And many of our guests coming in through the VIP longue would enjoy a Hennessey Lounge for patrons to do their own thing before they enter the hall.

We are going to have a special VVIP lounge that has never happened before; we would create a raiser where we have 60 exclusive guests seated on that raiser.

It is going to be like a night club right on that raiser right in the Dome. We are also having the VIP out there.

They would just have to snap a finger to get champagne and Hennessey on cubes flowing in abundance. They are also taking home gifts from MTN and Rlg.

NEWS-ONE: What is the explanation for this concept?

Bola Ray: It is all about unification and brotherliness within the spirit of having fun with our Nigerian brothers and sisters.

We have lots in common and there is no better way to express that than through a concert.

Yes we do that through football matches, we do that through diplomatic and bilateral arrangements and cultural exchanges but we believe that as entertainers, we can also do something to strengthen that unification.

History says some Ghanaians actually migrated from Nigeria so it is also a homecoming thing.

Suffice it to say that last year, the programme actually resulted in a nice recording with Kwaw Kesse which was a banger.

We had R2Bees doing something with WizKid later on and several other collabos.

So this facilitates that bridge and creates a platform for our artistes to break into the Nigerian market.

I must say that after Ghana Meets Naija, we were in talks with Citi People and many of the Ghanaian acts were awarded, we were recognized as an industry, and we have Sound City coming to support us by playing our music and jingles out there.

NEWS-ONE: Can you take us through the list again?

Bola Ray: Let’s talk of the visitors first. Ghanaians should watch out for a big surprise from Nigeria. A very big surprise and you can hold me to that.

We have the Undisputed Man Mr. MI who is receiving great reviews all over the continent and doing great stuff.

We are bringing down Brymo; his song ‘Ara’ is doing great in Ghana; he did ‘Oleko’ with Ice Prince and he has a huge fan base here.

We also have the hottest kid on the block now. His name is Davido and he is coming in to just smash it.

Davido told me in a phone conversation just last week that he believes that the time is ripe for him.

He has been voted severally as the number one artiste on Channel O and he is receiving great reviews on DSTV so I believe the time is due for him to enter Ghana.

We’re bringing the sexy, saucy Tiwa Savage and we all know her for a lot of songs and she is also a club banger.

From Ghana we have R2Bees on the stage, we have Kwaw Kesse, Kakkie, Guru, 4×4, Tiffany, Chemphe and there is something unbelievable going on.

I have a number of calls from several artistes in a day from musicians all pledging their support and promising to perform for free.

The challenge would be whether we would have the time so we are considering doing an all-night long affair.

In future, we are thinking of having a two or three day festival where it is going to go through all night long and then the next day we have a beach party so all the artistes can have their time on. But even now we are having a pre-party and an after party.

We believe this is a brand that we are building and hopefully it is going to go well with all the media support and sponsorship that we are getting and I am particularly grateful for that.

NEWS-ONE: Emcees?

Bola Ray: KOD and another surprise from Nigeria- a shocking surprise.

NEWS-ONE: How much are tickets going for?

Bola Ray: Tickets would be on sale from Monday June 11. And they are very affordable- GH¢70 for regular because we want the ordinary fun-loving Ghanaian to be there so we want to make it affordable.

I am looking forward to a great star-studded performance and patrons coming in and being satisfied and saying ‘oh yes.

We’ve had fun’. And don’t forget the next day is a Sunday and the following day is a holiday.

So from Monday you can get tickets from Joy FM, the Shopping Mall, Koala, and Baatsonaa Shell.

NEWS-ONE: Final words

Bola Ray: We would like to acknowledge our sponsors and say a big thank you to MTN our headline sponsor, to Rlg; they’ve been totally awesome, we are saying a big thank you to Hennessey as well for their solid support.

We want to thank all media houses, Digital Innovation, Golden Tulip Hotel where our artistes would be lodged, and Chrisaach Carpets for the yellow carpet