Ace Highlife musician, Amakye Dede has proclaimed that he was propelled to crown Kuami Eugene Highlife King at the 2019 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs).
According to Amakye Dede, who made the revelation on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (June 14), he did that under compulsion from the event’s organisers.
“Though I did that, it was not my will to do so. They forced me to crown Kuami Eugene. I even gave the crown they handed over to me to someone to put it down, but they later said, no I have to crown him, and I did it,” he revealed.
Amakye Dede didn’t only spark huge debate but equally faced public backlash when he crowned Kuami Eugene the King of Highlife music for the future four years ago.
Even though this is the first time Amakye Dede has opened up about the incident which many described as heartbreaking at the time, the likes of Kwasi Aboagye, host of Peace FM Entertainment Review and highlife singer, Akwaboah had previously mentioned that.
In an interview with Kwaku Manu in 2020, Akwaboah explained the crowning as a fraud orchestrated by Charterhouse, organisers of VGMA.
”Kuami Eugene is my son. I played a major role in his journey as an artist. I was a voice coach on the MTN Hitmaker show training him and the likes of Kidi and Kurl Songz. So to crown him as the Highlife King is not correct.
“Besides, the likes of Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi, and Kofi B were still active at that time. I think Uncle Amakye Dede was forced to do it because he would definitely not bring a crown from home to do that on stage. Probably, the organisers had a part to play in all that”, Akwaboah said.
