Monitoring Report
ACCRA, GHANA: Meek Mill, the US rapper has apologised for secretively filming a music video in Ghana’s presidential palace, also known as Jubilee House.
The Grammy-nominated rapper and his entourage is facing criticism for filming the music video without seeking permission. According to BBC, the star caused uproar with the video, which featured him lip-syncing in the corridors and halls of the palace’s and even behind the presidential rostrum. He was accused of disrespecting Jubilee House, while the legislators also raised questions about the potential security risks.
In a statement, Meek Mill said he would take responsibility for the mistake. He said no video he dropped was ever meant to disrespect the Ghana people. he believed that the fastest way to make a connection was through music and he wanted to do that with displaying art.
Meek Mill removes video
The president’s office has not yet commented on the event while Mill has removed his video from Instagram. Mill was born Robert Rihmeek Williams in South Philadelphia, and travelled to Ghana last month, after learning in an ancestry test that he was 18 percent Ghanaian. He rode dirt bikes in the city streets, performed at the Afronation concert in Accra, and was later invited to see the Jubilee House. The footage he filmed was uploaded to Instagram on Sunday, causing outrage in the countrymen.
“All those responsible for this desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately,” wrote a member of parliament for the North Tongu district, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. How do those explicit lyrics from the president’s podium project Ghana positively? Is Ghana’s seat of government no longer a high-security installation,” he added.
He insisted that all those who masterminded this national disgrace and international embarrassment are brought to book as he talked to Accra’s Joy FM radio station. Alex Segbefia, Ghana’s former deputy Chief of Staff agreed that the video was unacceptable in any shape or form. In his statement, Mill explained that he had simply been excited to share his experiences in Ghana with the world.
