Samini Pleads For Votes

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Saturday, 20 October 2007

UP against stiff competition from four great African artistes, he emerged as the people’s choice at the 11th Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards held in the United Kingdom last year when he picked the Best African Act award.

To him, winning the Best African Act award category at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich, Germany on November 1, largely depends on the public who are to give him thumbs- up.

The MOBO laureate is therefore appealing to his fans and the public to vote for him via the internet on www.ema.com to be able to win the pending award, which he is competing for with the Nigerian R&B sensation D’Banj, Ugandan hip-hop/ragga crowd-pleaser Chameleone, Kenyan underground hip hop King Jua Cali and South Africa’s hottest hip-hop , HHP.

In an exclusive interview with the Spectator, the man who calls himself the ‘King of African Dancehall’ said he would only be able to bring the award to Ghana when the public gives him the necessary support by voting for him.

He indicated that winning the award would not only be a plus for him but for the growing hip-life industry in the country.

This year, Batman Samini, has again been nominated among four other African artists -- three of whom he beat last year to win the MOBO laurel -- to receive yet another international award to his credit. But this time, the task ahead seems tough.

Batman Samini’s musical career began when he was featured on Mary Agyapong’s album. With his sterling lyrics and unique reggae and ragga style, he became one of the most featured artistes in the hip-life industry, as he was featured in over 50 songs before his solo album ‘Dankwansere’ in 2004.

The hit track on his solo album, ‘Linda’ shot him into fame winning him the Hip-life Artist of the year and New Artist of the Year at the 2004 Ghana Music Awards. Two years later, he hit the airwaves with a second album which won him four awards at the 2006 Ghana Music Awards.

The same year, he was nominated in three categories at the Channel ‘O’ Spirit Africa Music Video Awards, but luck eluded him this time around he didn’t go past the nomination.

He said he was motivated to go into music because he was convinced that being the “food of the soul”, it is important to feed it after feeding the body. He said he derives his lyrics from the grassroots, saying “I lay my ears down and listen to the grassroot. I touch on real love issues” as portrayed in “Odo,” a hit track on his second album.

He indicated that he had to do a careful calculation of ‘Linda,’ which was a hit on his first album, before coming out with ‘Odo’. That, he explained, was in view of the fact that ‘Linda’ was viewed by many as profane.

He underscored the need for musicians to be carful in selecting their lyrics, saying “We have to be careful with the lyrics we bring out. No matter how happy we get, we should be careful about what message we send out”

He told the Spectator that although he studied Business Accounting while in school, intends to divert to fine arts since he is gifted in art. “As early as age 9, I used to draw for my sisters,” he recalled, noting that he is self tutoring.

Explaining why he took the name Batman, he said the ‘Bat’ represents ‘Best of All Time.’ In May last year, he outdoored his new name; Samini when he launched his second album which he self-titled. Batman Samini was born in Wa in the Upper West Region with the name Emmanuel Samini and an SSS leaver.