Coordinating Asaase Sound Clash, interviewing Shatta Wale & Stonebwoy, was one of my hardest tests in radio — Elvis Crystal

It’s been a month and 8 days after Asaase Sound Clash — another colourful moment inked in Ghana’s music history as one of the biggest and loudest lyrical clout bout between none other but Shatta Wale and Stonebwoy — the current biggest wave of music acts representing Reggae & Dancehall on the continent of Africa.

Taking a quick time travel back on September 12, 2020 and events leading to that final show down, indeed there were mixed feelings and lots of uncertainty about how the climax of the event would be, but nonetheless, both tension-fused artistes made the world know and understand that, “sound clash” in Dancehall can be done without any physical altercations.

At the Centre of it all, there was a gentleman who had to seamlessly keep momentum with the day to day buzz of Asaase Sound Clash, stretched for almost 6 weeks before the main event. With mammoth following for the respective headliners, the slightest blunder or misquoting of either of the artistes would have meant trouble, not only for the show host but the radio station. Yes, there were other colleagues and co-hosts who equally served the same purpose but the entire moderation of the show from the day of the launch through to the day of the main event coupled with getting apt and needed information to the listeners, viewers and followers on a daily basis was on the shoulders of this man — Elvis Crystal — who steers the drive show on Asaase Radio 99.5 MHz. His smooth run of the on-air promo from day one to finish is one that needn’t be overlooked! Shouts to Senior Journo cum Radio Guru, Nana Otu Gyandoh and events activation wiz Mel Kwesi Davis who also held the fences tight for Asaase Radio to have a successful clash.

So I caught up with Elvis Crystal in a one on one conversation about the clash a month after. But before I get in with my questions to him and his responses, I personally want to ‘virtually’ (in the name of COVID-19 protocols) doff my hat and lie prostrate before the Radio Station’s Chairman, Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko, for opening his doors for our Reggae/Dancehall Musicians to champion this initiative to fight the deadly pandemic through (not just entertainment) but highlight and improve MUSIC TOURISM for Ghana! Now the whole world, especially the Caribbean, has their eyes on Ghana and it’s talents now, thus looking for collaborative projects and business opportunities to exploit across. The huge investment made by Sir Gabby is totally priceless and unmatched! It’s not even about the funds or resources involved, not only that, but his passion, love, sacrifice and the RISK FACTOR to turn to Reggae & Dancehall, we need to celebrate him — we hardly get very big business men and very high profile/corporate personalities like him looking our way. I’m still smiling while I type this very sentence.

Now on Elvis Crystal, I know if he had his way he would run away from my questions but he still managed to respond to them as a young but matured media gem.

1. Moving to Asaase Radio and all of a sudden, a huge project such as Asaase Sound Clash landed on your laps, how did you react when you became the frontline man to handle all these back and forth interviews?

These few months at Asaase Radio have been incredibly exciting and even though we are young as a station, this initiative has proven how grounded we are to redefine the Ghanaian radio experience. Our goals and objectives are far rooted in originality, there are ideas and initiatives such as the Asaase Sound Clash which have been drafted ahead of time to stimulate the industry. When the management disclosed the Sound Clash project to me, I was awed, I had a jaw-dropping moment and immediately I realised how impactful it would be.

The management of Asaase Radio have a vision, this has been sold to me from the get-go and it’s an exciting experience to be the face of the clash from the launch through to the interviews with both artistes, and juggling the interviews and the preparations for the Sound Clash alongside handling the Drive Time- “995RushHour” have altogether been an electrifying experience. I had to be fired up, and the only option was to ace it.

2. Before you took on this huge task, what was the feeling like, the foresight?

I believe this initiative was going to spin the industries in a different dimension, both the music industry and the radio broadcasting industry, I knew this meant big because both artistes are internationally recognized with die-hard fans, that means the world got their eyes on us and their ears to the ground. The feeling to execute my tasks was sure-shot, I’m like, yes, lets do it!

The clash initiative is novel on our side of the globe, and it only makes sense at this very moment that nations and their people have been gravely affected by Covid-19 to use our medium and platform to create awareness about Covid 19, and to do this, we had to employ music entertainment as a tool to crush covid-19 in Ghana. I’m delighted to be a part of this historic initiative. The feeling is grand.

3. Would you say this has been your biggest task on radio coordinating an event?

Yes, for now I’d agree that it’s the biggest, though Asaase Radio promises bigger projects ahead, truth is, this event has been more mentally stimulating compared to others in the past. And the only sure way to professionally excel in my field of work whenever the opportunity presents itself is to prepare, practice and perfect the art as I go along. I call it the 3Ps of radio craftmanship. And when the time comes you ought to man up, show up and blow up.

4. Separately — what 3 key (good) traits did you pick from Stonebwoy’s interview and Shatta Wale’s interview?

First of all, Elorm, I love both artistes, I admire their tenacity and resilience towards their works. With Stonebwoy, though its not the first time having work-related interviews with him, I fetched from his personality that he is someone who stays true and real to himself without pretension, posturing, or insincerity. I discovered during my visit at his home that he amasses knowledge in areas of discipline, Godliness and self-awareness especially regarding his personal life, life as an entertainer and his family life. Off the mic, he attributed many of his successes and glorious feats to God. He told me, “Elvis, God has to be at the centre of it all”.

Stonebwoy’s optimism is infectious, he has a strong sense of hopefulness and confidence about the future. I believe these traits are etched in several portions of his music. I found that Stonebwoy is thorough and meticulous in the expression of his crafts – Bwoy is focused and mentally present with his work.

Shatta Wale has an enchanting personality, he is an effortless conversationalist who has good mental attitude for interpreting life events, people, and situations in a promising light. Off the mic, we spoke at length about his unrelenting desire to see industry colleagues succeed, have a united front and redefine the structures and systems of the music industry, and also his wish for his fans to succeed. He intimated that he has been through it all – the pain, setbacks and the badbreaks, so no one close to him has to go through all that, evidently, this trait of compassion permeates his music and countless tweets and Instagram posts.

During our conversation at his residence, he shared his political aspirations with me, professing that with politics he can change lives on a larger scale, improve systems and create a livelihood full of hope. He said, “with politics, I can empower, elevate and accelerate growth of the people”. Wale is a people person, I enjoyed his clap backs and one-liners.

5. Your overall assessment of the initiative.

It’s a magnificent initiative not only to strengthen the relationships within the Reggae/Dancehall fraternity in Ghana but to brew hope for the future of Dancehall and Raggae in Ghana. The initiative also seeks to project our talents to the world as commercial exports and also boost music tourism. The maiden which featured two bankable raggae/dancehall bombadiers, Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale, sought to further the awareness of the Covid19 pandemic, highlight the importance of adhering to the preventive protocols and eventually kicking out Covid 19. It is on this premise that the Asaase Sound Clash was initiated with a compelling tagline, “Clash2CrushCovid”. Fans from both camps (Bhim Nation and Shatta Movement) had a swell time chorusing in unison as their favourite songs pervade the auditorium.

The performances from Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale were a remarkable blinder and super stellar. It was a night of bliss. Elorm, have you seen Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale in close rings and in the round in recent times? It’s been over a decade since we last saw a thing of the sort at Labadi Beach. So this initiative for me is spectacular and worth celebrating. The just ended sound Clash is the first in a series of many to come in the near future.

6. As an award winning radio presenter, many have applauded your interview style and techniques, what would you say are the secrets to a great interview?

I’d say it begins with being a chirpy person, a conversationalist and being a person who is genuinely interested in learning about people. Simply, one needs to have a big appetite to connect deeply with their subject or source. Good interviewers always read up on their subject’s background, it is good to know what you are interviewing the subject about, perhaps they are musicians but this time they are on your set for a different purpose, say charity initiative, and so it is important to research the person or people with whom you’ll be speaking. A bit of familiarity will make you feel more confident – and will prime your subject to open up to you. But you rarely see a professional interviewer following a script or referring to notes. A better, more casual approach is to stay in the moment and allow talk to flow naturally. One good thing to do is also to engage your subject in a casual conversation prior to the interview, this should make the subject more comfortable to open up.

The art of listening is a key element in excelling as an interviewer- be an active listener, pseudolistening will ruin your rapport and flow. A great interviewer also applies emotional intelligence; matching moods, reading body language and analysing pitch and tone in their verbal messages, these can help you in the course of the conversation. The job is to dig, fetch and project the truth. You ought to explore something with a little more depth after the subject has answered a question. Some interviewers drag the subject through the mud in the quest to unravel dirt for gossip and viral content, here, it is important to know what your production prescribes.

(Source: BeenieWords.com)