Filmmaker and creative director Kobi Rana has responded to controversies surrounding the “Daddy Lumba Tribute” performance at the 27th edition of the Telecel Ghana Music Awards.

This comes after his name was repeatedly mentioned in discussions about the production.

In a Facebook post, Kobi Rana insisted that his name should not be dragged into what he described as damage control following backlash against the tribute performance, which has been widely criticised online as “uncreative” and “mediocre.”

He stressed that he was not responsible for the execution and should not be associated with the outcome since his concept was not adopted in full.

Recently, during an X Space discussion hosted by Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM, media personality Andy Dosty addressed behind-the-scenes details of the tribute segment.

Kobi Rana, however, expressed dissatisfaction with how the discussion was handled, accusing the host of unprofessionalism for allowing claims to be made about him without hearing his side.

“Yo Kwame Dadzie it is very unprofessional and ridiculous of you to allow this tgma accusation on me without hearing my side of the story,” he wrote.

Andy Dosty speaks amid 'Daddy Lumba TGMA' tribute backlash

Responding to Andy Dosty’s claim that he bypassed him to engage directly with the TGMA production team after an earlier interaction about the creative concept, Kobi Rana clarified that his engagement with Charterhouse began much earlier than claimed.

According to him, discussions about his idea started as far back as February, before his later interaction with Andy in April.

“Their CEO told Robert to call me for a meeting in their office. Cos i told her about my offer in February or so. I have the chat. Before i told Andy in April. I hadn’t even been there in about 20 years. Kwame, I sent the concept video in that your post. It’s also on my page. Don’t play radio politics host and be quiet when a statement is wrong,” Kobi Rana noted.

He maintained that his intention was purely to contribute creatively to honour one of Ghana’s most iconic musicians, and not to become part of any post-event controversy.

Kobi Rana further emphasised that he has built a long-standing filmmaking career spanning over two decades and is focused on his work, not public disputes.

“No lies abeg. I am not crazy about it. I just offered to upgrade the show and to help honour our biggest music icon. I have a unique consistent 2 decades old filmmaking career I’m focused on. No take me do damage control. I respect una,” he stated.

He also added that his name should not be used for damage control over the criticism directed at the performance, stressing that he did not ask anyone to put together an “uncreative” performance and later get backlashed for it.

“I no send anybody to do uncreative performance and get backlash. No mention my name for there without calling me to hear my side. That showbiz politics. I did my part and after the meeting, they told me to refine, they never picked up my calls. But it was just to elevate the show.”

Background to the controversy

The Daddy Lumba Tribute, one of the performances at the 27th Telecel Ghana Music Awards, has faced backlash since the event, with many social media users describing it as poorly executed and lacking creativity.

Speaking during a Joy FM X Space discussion, Andy Dosty, who curated and produced the segment, provided context on how the tribute was developed.

He revealed that Kobi Rana had initially approached him in April with a creative concept for the tribute, which included a concert-style production featuring dramatic stage designs, audience interaction, and symbolic elements such as children carrying lamps.

However, Andy explained that the idea was rejected by the TGMA production team due to budgetary constraints and the limited 10-minute performance window.

He also disclosed that before Kobi Rana came on board, he already had a separate concept prepared for the tribute.

Nevertheless, he allowed Kobi Rana to take the lead on the creative direction because of his experience in filmmaking and stage production.

Andy Dosty further alleged that Kobi Rana later engaged directly with the production team without involving him, even though he had been assigned as the producer for the segment.

“Unfortunately, he couldn’t wait to execute it with me. He went to them directly and dealt with them. Meanwhile, I’m producing it. So the team came back to me and said it wasn’t connecting. So I should come up with another idea. Hence what we did yesterday,” he said.



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AK/EB