Celebrities or specifically creatives such as musicians and actors using spiritual means which is termed in our part of the world as ‘Juju’ to supplement their performance(s) and to allegedly incapacitate the work of their competitors has become a flip-switch issue within the showbiz fraternity.
‘Juju’ is believed to emanate from the French word Joujou ,though some sources claim it is from the Hausa language,meaning “Fetish” or “evil Spirit”.
Juju is commonly practiced in West African countries such as Nigeria,Benin,Togo, and Ghana,although its assumptions are shared by most African people.
Many great African creatives have been accused of using it while some have also confessed to using ‘juju’.
Self-acclaimed Ghanaian dancehall King,Charles Nii Armah-Mensah better known as Shatta Wale ,in an interview in 2018 confessed that he once used ‘Juju’. popular female Ghanaian musician, eShun also alleged that a Mallam once requested for her pubic hair for rituals in order to produce hit songs.
One can again recall that Ghanaian rapper, Tinny alleged that some musicians have taken his CD to Benin to supplicate charms against his career. Some Ghanaian gospel artistes have also been accused of using ‘Juju’.
But legendary highlife musician, Bessa Simons believes that the only ‘Juju’ in music is rehearsal.
The legendary highlife musician who was talking about his journey in music as a special guest on Citi TV’s ‘FootPrints’ show hosted by Samuel Attah-Mensah said:
“I joined CK Man band in Takoradi because I needed that exposure and with him it was all about rehearsals… He(C.K. Mann) really believed in rehearsal…he would say the only ‘Juju’ in music is rehearsal; you rehearse till you are very perfect and people would think you are using ‘Juju'”.
Bessa Simons was a member of the legendary Osibisa Band and he is also known for his monster hit song dubbed ‘Belembe’.
Watch the full interview below
