Lots of people have times without number refer to multiple award-winning presenter, Sammy Forson as the errand boy of BET rapper, Sarkodie, reason being his actual position when it comes to the management of Sarkodie is not known. Today you would see him playing the role of a road manager, tomorrow he is providing security, the next day he is doing PR, next two days he is the hype man, and the list goes on, and on.
On GHOne TV rhythm’s show hosted by Blackboy he asked, what exactly does he do for the rapper? Sammy Forson is seen doing many things which confuses people concerning his position in the management of Sarkodie.
He clarified his role and how he met Sarkodie. He also talked about how the journey with Sarkodie has been.
“I play an all-round role when it comes to the management of Sarkodie, that’s from performance to securing contract to making sure monies have been paid, through to doubling up as the road manager, to dealing with bookings, playing PR roles, simply I do almost everything when it comes to the management of Sarkodie but officially I’m his Business Manager”.
“It was all after the Rapperholic concert, then Sarkodie knowing the role I played to ensure that the concert was a success approached me, and was like he has been a great fan of me all these years, showered praises on me, and added that it won’t be bad for us working officially together, and the rest they say, is history”
On GHOne TV rhythm’s show hosted by Blackboy with Sammy Forson
“It has been all rosy working with Sarkodie at all; the higher he goes, the more pressure pile on me to deliver, so basically I was faced with a situation where I have to continue to learn, be knowledgeable, and upgrade on my roles”.
“We do have differences; there were times I would disagree with his way of thinking and more, but whatever the case is, we make sure we settle all our differences privately as possible so that they doesn’t get out to the public. ”
A woman walks on the roof of Ibn Tulum Mosque. Credit: Hector de Pereda via Flickr
The woman was just 19 years old when she was captured by militants from the Islamic State. Caring for her young son and pregnant with her second child, she was separated from her husband and told that she would be forced to marry a member of ISIS.
Her harrowing story is not unique, but the fact that she escaped places her in the minority of those who face the similar terror of life as an ISIS captive.
The woman’s name, and that of the village where she is staying with her two children, cannot be revealed for security reasons. CNA met her during a trip to Iraq with a papal delegation led by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum March 26-29.
On the wooden door of the room where the woman speaks with the pontifical delegation, a phrase in English is embossed: “God is Lord.” The woman holds her son in the hands, while her mother-in-law is taking care of the younger child, who is now four months. Her brother-in-law sits on her right.
She sometimes takes a deep breath, and sometimes holds back her tears, as if she is living once more what happened. But she agreed to tell her story, because she wants everyone to know what happened.
In early August, Islamic State forces attacked Mahmur camp, a U.N.-run refugee camp home to some 12,000 Turkish refugees who fled in the early 1990s during the height of Turkey’s conflict with Kurdish separatists. Mahmur is located in the vicinity of Erbil, and the residents there had established a school system and local government.
The attack was one of several similar military attacks in the region, part of ISIS’ major Northern Iraq offensive in the summer of 2014.
The woman said that she was taken by Islamic State militants on Aug. 5.
“As we had been aware that the ISIS forces were coming, we managed to escape,” the woman told CNA. “But those who had no opportunity to use a car moved more slowly, remained behind, and were then captured by the ISIS forces.”
She and her family were among some 3,100 people captured by the Islamic State. Of them, approximately 600 managed to escape while about 2,500 remained in the hands of Islamic State forces.
The woman recounted that “they divided into groups of male and female.”
“I was thus separated from my husband, and I have had no news of him ever since.”
After three days, Islamic State militants selected the married women and brought them into separate houses, where they stayed alone under the control of guards.
“After a couple of weeks of captivity, I was told by one of the guards that if I did not marry one of the ISIS members, they would have separate me from my child,” the woman recounted. “That very night I managed to escape.”
During the night of Aug. 28, the three guards watching her fell asleep, and she took advantage of the situation to get out of the house.
“I walked for four hours with my child, and myself pregnant. Then I was helped by an Arab family, who took me to the Peshmerga checkpoint, and I was then able to get to a refugee camp,” she said.
She then rejoined her brother-in-law and mother-in-law, who now all live together in the Dohuk governorate.
The woman’s brother-in-law told CNA: “We will always be grateful to the Peshmerga forces for helping us, but now we cannot trust anyone else. We would only trust an international force, sent to Iraq to end the war and bring finally peace.”
Ace musician Kaakyire Kwame Fosu popularly known as KK Fosu would be exposed on Wednesday 1st April 2015 on Okay FM’s Okwanso dwoo dwoo show with Abeku Santana.
KK Fosu who recently launched himself back into the music scene with a new single titled “Pani di Pani” has performed on various events since the release of this single and he is even slatted to headline the Best of the Lives concert which comes off on the 3RD April 2015 at the plush Hotel Majorie Y in Tema.
KK Fosu has been in the news recently with rumours about him quitting music to embark on a football management career because he is out of musical lyrics or content.
Abeku Santana, host of the drive time show on Okay 101.7FM in an interview said that he has uncovered a lot of information about KK Fosu and he would expose it on his show on Wednesday 1ST April.
Abeku in the interview said that KK Fosu is a dear friend of his but when it comes to work he does not compromise it with friendship so he would execute his job in all fairness and professionally.
To know all the details of this exposure, please tune in to Okay FM 101.7FM on Wednesday 2015 at 3pm sharp.
Musician Pharrell Williams is seen outside the Royal Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, last week. Photograph: David Buchan/Getty Images
A jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children nearly $7.4m on Tuesday after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father’s music to create Blurred Lines, the biggest hit song of 2013.
Marvin Gaye’s daughter Nona Gaye wept as the verdict was being read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch.
“Right now, I feel free,” Nona Gaye said after the verdict. “Free from … Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”
The verdict could tarnish the legacy of Williams, a reliable hit-maker who has won Grammy awards and appears on NBC’s music competition show The Voice.
An attorney for Thicke and Williams has said a decision in favor of Gaye’s heirs could have a chilling effect on musicians who try to emulate an era or another artist’s sound.
The Gayes’ lawyer branded Williams and Thicke liars who went beyond trying to emulate the sound of Gaye’s late-1970s music and copied the R&B legend’s hit Got to Give It Up outright.
“They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.
Thicke told jurors he didn’t write Blurred Lines, which Williams testified he crafted in about an hour in mid-2012.
Williams told jurors that Gaye’s music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn’t use any of it to create Blurred Lines.
Gaye’s children – Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III – sued the singers in 2013 and were present when the verdict was read.
The verdict may face years of appeals.
Blurred Lines has sold more than 7.3m copies in the US alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. It earned a Grammy nomination and netted Williams and Thicke millions of dollars.
The case was a struggle between two of music’s biggest names: Williams has sold more than 100m records worldwide during his career as a singer-producer, and Gaye performed hits such as Sexual Healing and How Sweet It Is (To be Loved by You) remain popular.
During closing arguments, Busch accused Thicke and Williams of lying about how the song was created. He told jurors they could award Gaye’s children millions of dollars if they determined the copyright to Got to Give It Up was infringed.
Howard King, lead attorney for Williams and Thicke, told the panel that a verdict in favor of the Gaye family would have a chilling effect on musicians who were trying to recreate a genre or homage to another artist’s sound.
King denied there were any substantial similarities between Blurred Lines and the sheet music Gaye submitted to obtain copyright protection.
Williams has become a household name – known simply as Pharrell – thanks to his hit song Happy and his work as a judge on the The Voice. He wrote the majority of Blurred Lines and recorded it in one night with Thicke. A segment by rapper TI was added later.
Williams, 41, also signed a document stating he didn’t use any other artists’ work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised.
Thicke testified he wasn’t present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.
The trial focused on detailed analyses of chords and notes in both Blurred Lines and Got to Give It Up.
Jurors repeatedly heard the upbeat song Blurred Lines and saw snippets of its music video, but Gaye’s music was represented during the trial in a less polished form. Jurors did not hear Got to Give It Up as Gaye recorded it, but rather a version created based solely on sheet music submitted to gain copyright protection.
That version lacked many of the elements – including Gaye’s voice – that helped make the song a hit in 1977. Busch derisively called the version used in court a “Frankenstein-like monster” that didn’t accurately represent Gaye’s work.
An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from Got to Give It Up that were used in Blurred Lines, but an expert for Williams and Thicke denied those similarities existed.
Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music.
In recent times, several men of God and religious heads have come under severe attacks and criticism for hiring the services of personal security men popularly known as bodyguards who ‘protect’ and walk with them all the time despite a very popular reference to Psalm 127:1 in the Holy Bible that states “………..Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
Although, this might sound funny since we are made to believe this, it is quite understandable that such people need some sort of physical protection wherever they go hence the new trend and renowned Ghanaian gospel musician Sonnie Badu has for the first time revealed why he hired the services of a personal security.
Appreciating his favourite security man in an Instagram post, the Adonai hitmaker stated;
“My favourite security man I call him airforce 1… #blackbelt, I am blackbelt too” and oh, who knew the gospel musician was security conscious as well and had a black belt too?.
He continued to explain why he employed a security man stating his wrist watch was once pulled away as he performed bring to bear the fact that not everyone in the presence of God was a “BornAgain”.
” But seriously I did not think I needed that until my watch one time got pulled off, that’s when I realised no be all be BornAgain Ooo..”, he wrote.
