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It’s official — controversial dancehall artist Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., aka Shatta Wale, has sacked the SM militants from his Shatta Movement camp. Well, maybe they didn’t see this coming.
The SM militants were 4 solo artists namely Joint 77, Captan, Addi Self, and Natty Lee, who were once loyal to the African Dancehall King, and often performed shows with him. In April 2017, Shatta Wale signed the militants to his record label and promised to usher them to hit the limelight.
In the beginning, their chemistry was fantastic as most of the musical collaborations between Shatta Wale and his Militants went on to top music charts.
Remember how “Taking Over” became a national anthem in 2017 when Shatta Wale first featured his Militants? During the 2017 edition of Ghana Music Awards UK, the smash hit song (Taking Over) won awards for Best Collaboration Of The Year.
Point proved. Using his Midas touch, Shatta Wale’s subsequent features with his Militants continued to make waves in the entertainment circles. Mention can be made of hit track “Forgetti” by Shatta Wale and his militants, featuring Asuoden God Pope Skinny.
The journey goes on. In 2019, Shatta Wale and his militants came back stronger with another hit track “Thunderfire”. The song penetrated the airwaves and enjoyed a fair amount of play. In Koforidua, I remember how students of the Oti Boateng Senior High School (Oboss) loved to dance to “Thunderfire” during their entertainment shows. It was a good song.
Fire Breeds on the Mountain
After dominating Ghana showbiz for 3 years, with his SM militants, bad days crept up on the Shatta Movement camp in 2020. Fire was building on the mountain.
Though it’s hard to assess what was going on, the Militants became redundant musicians who couldn’t stand on their feet without holding on to the SM boss. They released their own singles, one after the other. Unfortunately, none of their songs really made it that far..
Only Captan came close to getting a hit song with his “don’t complain” track.
With his deep voice, Addi Self released wack singles such as “Today Too” and “Bombard”. Once again, he also blew up his chance.
Then came Joint 77 with his “Otophista” single. But it also didn’t travel far. Like his colleague Militants, Joint 77 also failed to defend his musical talents.
All of a sudden, the Militants were sitting on a ticking time bomb. Despite receiving mentorship from Shatta Wale, and support from his large SM fanbase, the militants failed to impress their boss. Problems loomed in the SM family as the young talents and their godfather failed to see eye to eye on many occasions.
Shatta Wale Sacks SM Militants
In early January 2020, a wide gap stood up between Shatta Wale and Joint 77. Their 13-year-old relationship had fallen apart. Joint was no longer appearing in Shatta Wale shows. This sparked suspicions that he was axed from Shatta Movement.
It wasn’t until late May 2020 before Shatta Wale finally came out to officially declare that he had sacked all the Militants. His explanation — the Militants are lazy, ungrateful, treacherous, and wack musicians.
As we speak today (June 3, 2020), Joint 77, Addi Self, and Natty Lee, have been evicted from Shatta Movement.
However, it turns out this is not the first nor last time Shatta Wale is losing his close companions. Retired SM warriors such as Kush Taylor, Chameleon, Deportee, Ara B, Pope Skinny, and Blade — have all bowed out of Shatta Movement.
Captan, on the hand, seems to still have a working relationship with Shatta Wale. But we still don’t know when his cup will also get full.
Interestingly, Shatta Wale continues to rise despite facing millions of problems every year. Not even his failed relationship with his baby mama Shatta Michy, could break him apart. Indeed, Shatta has a heart of gold.
The question is — will the SM Militants come back to Shatta Movement?
For now, no one really knows what will happen next! But let’s hope for the best.
