Spotify is expanding into over 80 new markets in more than 36 new languages – including key territories across Africa such as Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Together, these 80 markets house more than a billion people with nearly half of them already using the internet, says Spotify. The vast expansion over the coming days means that Spotify will be active in more than 173 markets. The news comes close to a year after Spotify rival Apple Music announced its expansion into 52 new global markets, taking its total reach to 167 markets. Spotify's announcement today was delivered by its Chief Freemium Business Officer, Alex Norström, during the company's Stream On event. Norström explained that SPOT will launch in as many of these markets as possible '"With a core library of content and features that will evolve over time". He added that "We believe there could be more than 1 billion potential Spotify users" in these markets. In a blog post expanding on the news, Spotify states that its Free and Premium plans will be available across all the new markets, while in select markets, the company's Individual, Family, Duo, and Student Plan options will be offered. Spotify has also announced a new HiFi subscription which will launch in select markets later this year. Source | Summary
Becca’s mother laid to rest in the U.K [ARTICLE]
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A little The Ghanaian singer's biological mother was reported to have died in London, where she is based, after battling an illness. Madam Julie Yiadom-Oti passed on in the first week of 2021. Becca's estranged relationship with her mother became a public topic after reports of her complaining that her daughter has abandoned her surfaced online after an explosive interview with Chris-Vincent. The late Madam Julie Yiadom-Oti accused Becca's husband of him polluting her daughter to ignore her over reports that he allegedly claimed she is a witch. Gh, the mother to the singer has been sent home with a burial service was held in a church but with no filing past as her casket remained closed and covered with colourful kente. It was a private ceremony held in strict adherence to the coronavirus protocol in Brompton, London, with very few family members present. Of whom some poured out glowing tribute the Madam Julie Yiadom-Oti who died at age 51. There was no sign of the 'African Woman' singer present. Becca paid tribute to her mother hours after her death when she took to social media to say that "One of the darkest days of my life. I just lost My mom… Madam Julie Oti following a very brief illness". She continued that "This shock and pain is unbearable and the family would like to beg for understanding and respect of our privacy during this difficult time to mourn". The post shared on 8th January remains Becca's last social media post then. Source | Summary
The voice of the musician can straighten up the economy of a country- Shasha Marley
He posited that this capability of musicians is a result of the God-given duty of musicians to act as spokespersons on his [God's] behalf. He shared this opinion in an interview with Y97.9FM's Haruna Babaginda on the Reggae Republic Show. "If the country is not going well, it is not the politicians who will make things better. It is the voice of the musician that will straighten up the economy of the country. Let me give you an example, when the army coast in Cote D'Ivoire went into the crisis and they were fighting, it took the voice of Alpha Blondy to unite them.” "When you look at the big issues in the past, it took the voice of Bob Marley to unite the world. When Bob Marley played a song like Zimbabwe, it didn't take long for Zimbabwe to gain independence", he stated. Shasha Marley believes that as musicians, they have much more "Anointing" than pastors. He thus urged all musicians to use their music to "Glorify God on this earth". Last year, Shasha Marley had an international collaboration with top reggae artistes from 11 countries, in appreciation of the Frontline Workers working through the COVID-19 pandemic in Hawaii on an album dubbed the "Called to Duty" album. Source | Summary
Focus on your marital issues; Mona Gucci ‘slaps’ Mcbrown with wild allegations [ARTICLE]
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According to Mona Gucci who has been trending for saying she attended Massachusetts School of Law, she believes the host conspired with A Plus, Arnold Asamoah-Baidoo to embarrass her on UTV's 'United Showbiz' programme. Expressing her disappointment in the actress, she alleged that Nana Ama McBrown is facing marital issues because her husband,Maxwell Mensah, has allegedly cheated on her. "McBrown should think about her marital problems," she said in an interview with GhPage.com. Mona emphasized that there's no way she will invite McBrown to her show and throw surprised questions at her in that manner. "You McBrown you know you also have skeletons in your cupboard. They shouldn't make me their problem. A Plus should think about his wife and McBrown should think about her marital problem," Mona said. According to Mona, she has evidence that Maxwell Mensah has cheated on Nana Ama McBrown with a friend close to the actress. The actress has not responded to these claims that Pulse.com. Source | Summary
Akosua Vee: Mona Gucci Claims A Plus’ wife is stranded in London without rent ▷ Ghana news
Media personality, Mona Gucci, has claimed A Plus' wife, Akosua Vee, is broke, suffering, and stranded in London. She said it is her cousin that is paying Akosua Vee's rent. In the same video, Mona claimed that Nana Ama McBrown's husband, Maxwell Mensah, has impregnated one of McBrown's friends. She said the lady is a caterer and very popular in entertainment circles. Ghanaian radio presenter, Mona Gucci, has claimed that Akosua Vee, A Plus' wife, is broke and stranded in London. According to her, but for the intervention of her cousin who lives in London too, Akosua Vee would have been found wanting. Mona said she had many secrets to spill about A plus and dared him not to get involved in her issues. Mona wondered why Akosua Vee would be facing this kind of hardship in London while her husband A Plus stays in Ghana and behave like everything is fine with them. In the same video, Mona has claimed that Maxwell Mensah, the husband of actress Nana Ama McBrown, has impregnated one of his wife's friends. She said McBrown is very aware that she has skeletons in her cupboard, but she behaves like an angel. According to Mona, the lady involved is a caterer and a very popular one in the entertainment industry. In other news, Nana Ama McBrown's daughter, Baby Maxin, has celebrated her second birthday on February 21, 2021.Maxin's father, Maxwell Mensah, has quoted a powerful Bible scripture to wish her a happy birthday. Gh, Maxwell quoted the scripture found in James 1:17 which says that every good and perfect gift comes from God above. The little girl also surprised fans when she screamed in a video "Happy birthday to meeee". Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Source | Summary
“I’m giving you another chance to shine, I’ll beat you up if you misuse it”
Shatta Wale has advised Samini to make the most out of the leverage he is giving him now through their virtual beef. According to the SM Boss, this will be the last time he will be entertaining Samini thus the latter needs to make good use of the opportunity. "In a tweet, Shatta Wale said he will be ready to give Samini the beatings of his life if he fails to capitalize on the attention that their supposed 'beef" brings to stay relevant. Am giving you this chance if you misuse it , the way I will beat u er enter studio now and do good music am waiting. Samini, who is at a crossroad as far as his music career is concerned has been doing the most in recent times by deliberately foiling "Beefs" with relevant artistes in order to give life to his. Samini has promised to release a song on Fridayto counteract Shatta Wale and in effect make some coins from streaming platforms. Source | Summary
Father of your twins died in Lebanon; go for his bones and bury
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On Monday, February 22, Afia Schwarzenegger vented her spleen on Vivian Jill Lawrence for conspiring with Nana Agradaa to attack and insult her. In two separate videos she shared on her Instagram page, the 'Afia Schwarzenegger' TV series star called Vivian Jill unprintable names and mentioned the man who is the 'father' of her last son, and promised to do worse. Reacting to this, Maame Ng3g3, who is very opinionated on social media, slammed Afia Schwarzenegger for attacking the wrong target. According to Maame Ng3g3, Nana Agradaa is the one behind all the false rumours and the trolls at Afia Schwarzenegger, thus, Vivian Jill shouldn't be her main target. In a live Facebook video, Maame Ng3g3 showed WhatsApp messages she received from Agradaa, showing how the chief priestess altered Afia's photo and placed a dog behind her as proof that Afia sleeps with dogs. She further showed other messages of Nana Agradaa comparing Afia's old photos of her 'flat butt' to the revamped one. Maame Ng3g3 said the father of Afia Schwarzenegger's twins died in Lebanon and that she should go for his 'bones and bury him. She also mocked Afia for taking a loan to marry a man, cheated on him with a man in her matrimonial home and got divorced. Source | Summary
Former Metro Tv presenter, Ignatius Annor says he’s gay and talks about why he denied it in the past » GhBasecom™
Former Metro TV broadcast journalist, Ignatius Annor who now works with Euro News has finally come out as gay after denying ever being one for years. In a new interview, he disclosed that the fear of losing his journalism career was the reason why he always denied it when confronted with it. Ignatius also admitted that, the subject of homosexuality is very controversial and after denying being one in the past, some may think he's contradicting himself now. Speaking on PM Express on Joy News, he said; "In the past, I had denied the fact that I was gay. I did that because of the fear of losing my career."At the time, I practised Broadcast Journalism in Ghana for a number of years and being on TV and being ousted brought a lot of pain to my life. Ignatius Annor, who said he is an active of gay rights activist indicated that after studying for his Masters in the UK, he came back to Ghana looking for employment but none of the media houses were willing to hire him "just because of the stigma that surrounds my community". "This is going to be the very first time, using your medium, to say that not only am I an activist for the rights of African Sexual Minorities [LGBTQ+] but I am gay; it is the truth that I have accepted, it is the truth that I will live by," the former Metro TV journalist stressed. He added, "because I was ousted as a gay person and obviously, I denied because I was afraid of losing my job and also for the fear of what would happen to me personally". Ignatius Annor further stated that it does not feel okay for anybody to admit that he is gay and walk freely in Ghana or have access to employment or other social amenities which are "dehumanising and awful". He explained further that the people who belong to the African Sexual Minorities group want to live in the country as any other heterosexual persons live without any stigma. "I want Ghanaians to have an honest conversation about people who live in your family, people who are your brothers and sisters and see that these are human beings that deserve to have the very life you have and to be free and go about their normal activity. When asked how his family feels about his admission of being gay, Ignatius Annor responded that when he came back from the UK to Ghana in 2017, he had the burning desire to tell his family that he was gay but he thought of speaking to his mom first because "she is my only surviving parent". I remember the following day, she came to say, 'I have not been able to sleep because of what you told me' and I could feel her pain because she thought I was going to put my life in danger for what others are facing particularly being a TV person and being suspected of being gay and not openly saying it. I said that so that she could have the peace that she needs but at 32 years old today, I have lived a life of lies; I have lived a double life and no human being deserves to do that and to have accepted that truth and live the freedom that I live today, I am a very content person today," Ignatius Annor narrated further. He said since he told his mom that she should forget that he said he was gay to her, they have never spoken about his sexuality again. Annor admitted that throughout his denial, he let down his community just because he did not have the courage to own up to the truth and live it and he apologised for it. Source | Summary
Diana Hamilton receives coronavirus vaccine in the U.K
The 'Mo Ne Yo' hitmaker on February 20, 2021, shared a video of herself receiving a dose of the vaccine in an unknown hospital on her Instagram page. "Family, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate? That is the question. So I had my COVID-19 jab a few weeks ago. Why? Let's meet on Facebook at 6.30 pm GMT and be real with each other. I miss you plenty," she captioned the video. Mrs. Hamilton happens to be the only Ghanaian celebrity to have publicly shared a covid-19 vaccination experience since its inception. The government has announced the arrival of the first batch of coronavirus vaccines for the country on February 23, 2021. The information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who earlier disclosed this at a conference, said the government has targeted 20 million people for the exercise scheduled between March and October 2021. He indicated that to clear all forms of misconceptions and also enhance public confidence in the exercise, some public officials and celebrities will be made to take their vaccines publicly. Source | Summary
When she had the choice, she chose to marry a man
My first day at the university I met Pamela, one sweet girl who liked to tease me about my height. For the first time in my life, I found love that actually felt like love, and right. One day, we were approached by some ladies who claimed to know a community of our kind and urged us to join so they could offer us protection and care. Pamela told them, "We are safe being who we are and don't need to join groups for protection. We are not a couple. The rumors around us are vain.” They kept pestering us to be among them but our kind of love needed no other. Our dream was to work hard, get enough money and travel to a country where we won't feel threatened to express love for each other. We had dreams of staying together in a small house with a child, living modestly and enjoying what we had. Having dreams wasn't our problems. You know, Pamela's problem had always been her unusual beauty. I asked her; "Does he look like someone you'll love to be with?" She answered; "Oh nooo. He's different. That's all I'm saying.” I said nothing but I knew I've lost the Pamela I once knew. One day she said goodbye to everything we were and said yes to that man. I got drunk for the first time that day and somehow wished to die than go through the pain of seeing the woman I loved go. I knew Pamela was beautiful but the Pamela I saw in the photos was indescribable. I live with someone new, adopted a girl child and living in a country where I can love who I love. All I pray for is a better life for Pamela and her husband. Source | Summary
Happenings In Gold Coast 