Popular music video director, Babs Direction has added his opinion to the ongoing debate around the performance fee Shatta Wale was paid for his performance at the just-ended Taabea Ghana Music Awards 2023.

Shatta Wale recently showed up in London for the GMAUK 2023 awards ceremony where he won all 5 awards he was nominated for and gave a stellar performance at the event.

In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Shatta Wale indicated that he was paid an amount of £80,000 for his performance. This claim, however, was doubted by many including radio presenter Kwesi Aboagye which in turn led to a backlash from Shatta Wale and the CEO of the GMAUK, Eric Nii Tetteh.

Babs Direction came to the defence of Shatta Wale however, in a post on his X handle, he stated that Shatta’s claim of taking £80,000 would be beneficial in the long run as it would convince show promoters of the value of Ghanaian artistes.

“Shatta Wale saying he was paid 80k, was a positive move, and I support it. This can serve as a wake-up call for some promoters. Our neighbours consistently price their brands high; we're here making fun of something that may benefit us one day,” he said.

The post however led to a debate among many users, with some pointing out Shatta’s habit of trolling his colleagues about the amount they take home for shows and others questioning if he was genuine about the claim.

While there's yet to be proof of the actual amount paid to Shatta Wale for his performance. This controversy has highlighted the wider discussion of the state of the Ghana music industry and its performance as compared to other countries like Nigeria.

Shatta Wale saying he was paid 80k, was a positive move, and I support it. This can serve as a wake up call for some promoters. Our neighbors ????????????????consistently price their brands high, We're here making fun of something that may benefit us one day.

— Babs Direction (@babs_direction) October 12, 2023