Amaarae, the Ghanaian-American singer, songwriter, producer, and sound engineer known for her eclectic style and unique voice, has announced her withdrawal from performing at the 25th Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA). Despite meticulous planning and a significant logistical effort, Amaarae and her team encountered insurmountable technical and organizational issues upon arrival in Ghana.
Amaarae, who gained significant recognition with her debut album "The Angel You Don't Know" in 2020, flew a team of ten people, including her audio tech, visual, and tour management team, from Barcelona to Ghana. This required Primavera Sound Festival to change her performance date from June 1st to May 30th, enabling her to travel to Ghana on May 31st. Unfortunately, upon reaching rehearsals at TGMA, the team was met with multiple setbacks.
The production manager informed Amaarae's engineers that the technical rider request, submitted in April and followed up on for weeks, had not been fulfilled. Additionally, rehearsals were running three hours behind schedule, preventing her from rehearsing that night. Compounding the frustration, the production manager was unresponsive to calls from her manager and engineers the following morning regarding essential equipment.
"Sadly, I have had to pull out of performing at the TGMAs," Amaarae expressed. Despite her long-standing desire to perform at the Ghana Music Awards and the efforts of both her management and the event's CEO to make it happen, the disorganization proved too significant a hurdle.
"For 3 years now, I have tried so hard to perform at the Ghana Music Awards. Their CEO and my Management have worked hard to make it happen and finally we were able to align this year - only for my team to be completely ignored and frustrated by their production manager," Amaarae said.
Her commitment to professionalism and her deep love for Ghana motivated her to invest in bringing her entire tour team to deliver a high-quality performance. However, the circumstances made it impossible to provide the same level of excellence she offers in her international shows. "We spent a lot of money to come here only to be incredibly disrespected by the Charter House production team," she added.
Despite the setback, Amaarae remains positive. She extended her gratitude to her dedicated team—Ms. B, Jess, Tech, Coop, Corey, Chace, Erica, Mike, Janae, Breanna, Esther, Mike Millz, and Olele—who worked tirelessly to make the performance possible.
Amaarae concluded, "All the same, me and the gang are gonna be outside tonight because we deserve it. If you see me in the club tonight, say wassup! Much love!"
Amaarae's presence at the TGMA will still be felt, even if not from the stage, as she continues to show love and represent Ghana despite the challenges.
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