Shatta Wale Was Excluded from RNAQ Because He Demanded Payment; No Other Artist was Paid to Attend or Perform – Blakk Rasta Reveals

Ghanaian media personality Blakk Rasta has revealed that Shatta Wale was not present during the party of the year, Richard Nii Armay Quaye @ 40, because he demanded to be paid before he would attend the event.

Speaking on his show, The Black Pot, the musician-cum-presenter revealed that based on conversations he had with Richard Nii Armah Quaye, no artist was paid to appear or perform at the event.

Blakk Rasta said every single artist who attended was due to interpersonal relationships they had with Quaye, who built these relationships over years of being a prominent African businessman.

Quaye reportedly said that due to having business interests in Tanzania, he has been close friends with Diamond Platnumz for over five years. Rasta claimed that when the businessman informed his friend about his party, he agreed to come, only asking for Quaye’s private jet to pick him up from Dar es Salaam to Accra. The duo had no monetary discussion about the party.

“I have been a very good friend of Diamond Platnumz… I have businesses in Tanzania. I’ve known Diamond for over five years,” Blakk Rasta said, quoting Quaye. “When it was time for my birthday, I only invited him, and all he asked me for was to send the private jet to pick him up from Tanzania, and it happened. Same thing with Davido, same thing with Stonebwoy; I just invited him over, and Stonebwoy was there. We did not talk about money.”

Blakk Rasta added that he believes this is why ‘dancehall king’ Shatta Wale was not at the party because Wale asked for monetary compensation when he was invited to the party.

“Could this be the reason Shatta Wale was dropped? Because when Shatta Wale was invited, he asked him how much he was going to pay him to attend the birthday party and to put up a performance,” Blakk Rasta speculated.

Shatta Wale has long fought for more monetary compensation for musicians for their art, making it highly plausible that he would not attend such an event without being compensated.

The founder of Bills Micro Credit and an investor in many other Ghanaian companies, Richard Nii Armah Quaye, threw the most lavish birthday party in March, held at the Black Star Square in Accra.

The event, which was the social event of the year so far, was attended by big-time Ghanaian and Nigerian celebrities, including actors such as Ini Edo, Rita Dominic, Ramsey Nouah, Van Vicker, and others, as well as some of the aforementioned musicians plus Sarkodie and Efya, etc. Shatta Wale, the self-acclaimed richest and most popular musician in Ghana, was absent, with his manager Sammy ‘Flex’ Baah claiming that was because their values did not align with the party.