Ghana Arts & Culture Awards (GACA) winner singer/songwriter, SSUE, is keeping her fingers tightly crossed as this year’s GACA event approaches.
The winner of the 2020 Ghanaian Artist of the Year award is in the reckoning for the accolade again this year against such a strong field which includes Wiyaala, Seyram Music, and Big Twins Africa.
The winner of the GACA event which has been tagged as the most credible music award ceremony in the country is determined by the organizers for a specific year based on the artist’s output in the previous year.
SSUE, who came to national attention in 2018 and won the GACA Discovery of the Year trophy at the 2019 event has performed on several occasions both in Ghana and abroad in 2019 and these appearances were enough to clinch her the GACA topmost prize for 2020.
The event, according to the governing board of GACA aims to honour individuals and brands that have made major contributions to enhancing the arts and culture front in Ghana.
Though the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns and restrictions proved disastrous for live music performances for acts like SSUE, she still managed to pack in a lot of activity in 2020 that caught the attention of the GACA organizers.
To tell the truth, while other acts recoiled into their shells during the period, she finished recording her ‘Bambaya Fire’ EP that featured highlife great, Pat Thomas on a track titled Bome Nkomode and also opened for the internationally-acclaimed reggae band, Steel Pulse at a concert to mark Ghana’s Independence Day.
She, together with musicians from other parts of the globe, participated in an eight-week digital festival aimed at creating awareness on how to curb the spread of COVID-19. The campaign was organized by DSNY TV of France.
SSUE also donated a sizeable package of food, detergents, face masks, and other items to aged and ailing Ghanaian musicians through the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).
During the period under review, she participated in several virtual concerts including the Ghana National Council in Chicago Festival and the appreciation shown for Frontline Health Workers of the World in addition to performing at the 2020 Felabration virtual concerts that honoured late Afrobeat icon, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
SSUE also co-wrote the ‘Yo Love Is Betta’ song with Gregg Kofi Brown for Osibisa’s recently released ‘New Dawn’ album.
Talking about her 2020 projects and how she has kept herself busy during the period, she said with a smile, “I like to look at the brighter side of things. That’s why I pushed on with vim and explored all the avenues I could to keep on working despite the apparent gloom around us.”
To sum it up, 2020 was an extremely busy year for her and she is therefore not surprised to have been nominated in the Ghanaian Artist of the Year 2021 category.
As Ghanaians who have watched her perform, this is the right time to show that appreciation by voting for SSUE by dialing 447100# across all networks and follow the prompts or visit gacagh.com/gaca21voting*