Newly crowned Gospel Artiste of the Year at the 26th TGMA, Joe Mettle has disclosed that he will at a point avoid nominating himself for the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA).
Joe Mettle noted that his decision does not stem from any act of pride but due to the complexity in fulfilling some requirements of the categories at certain times.
Speaking on TV3 New Day, Friday, May 16, 2025, the ‘Onwanwani’ hitmaker opened up about how difficult it is to meet some requirements after he’s been nominated mainly due to busy schedules.
“I think I do (have intentions to retire from the awards). I think for the past 3 or 4 years, I have wanted to take a seat back from the awards. And it is not because I think I have outgrown the awards, no it is not that.
“There are things that the award requires that sometimes you are not able to do. Because once you are nominated, you need to push it and sometimes there are a lot happening.
“Sometimes, it gets to a point there are so much more going around you that you are not able to commit to the requirement. In the media, they feel like you are acting big but it is not the case. Most of them are assumptions.
“There are seasons, a season comes and you realise that you cannot commit to the awards like you use to but it’s not like you’ve outgrown it,” Joe Mettle explained.
Joe Mettle won two major awards at the 26th TGMA – Best Gospel Artiste of the Year and Best Male Vocal Performance for his song “Obo Awan Oba.”
These victories further solidified his dominance in Ghana’s gospel music scene, marking his third win in the Best Male Vocal Performance category (previously won in 2015 and 2017).
Despite being nominated for Artiste of the Year, he was outdone by King Promise, who took the top honor.
Joe Mettle’s track “Give Me Oil” featuring Sandra Boakye Duah was also nominated for Best Collaboration of the Year, but it lost to “Lomo Lomo” by KiDi featuring Black Sherif.
