Afrikaba Delips releases 'Dideo'

Ghanaian Afro-Dance music legend, Afrikaba Delips dishes out a brand new song which he titled 'Dideo' which means enjoy.

Afrikaba Delips is an African Ghanaian, a Panafricanist, born in Kumasi. He started playing music when he was 16 years old. Learning to play guitar at college, he made his first stage appearance playing the drums.

He has a recording studio in Accra, that is where he does most of his recordings. When he left college, he later became a self-thought. He started with the Road Runners band and then the Los Americans.

He later played K. Gyasi & the Noble Kings, K. Frimpongs Cubano Fiesta, City 9, and Star-lite band, Gee Dees, he formed Ehurusi sounds and was later invited to Accra to play B.soyaya, and then left for Vis-à-Vis then Drew Chase Delegations.

He's known for composing, arranging, engineering, managing, singing, and producing music.

He felt strongly at that time that he wasn't doing enough as a young teen with a lot of energy; either he had to start learning how to compose his songs or do research about African music.

He then decided to travel to other African countries and work with them and pick some of their ideas, rhythms, and styles of music. The research began when he was employed to go to Togo to play with a band.

While he was in Togo he met another group called [Collette Larcose], a black group led by a white French lady who wanted a keyboard player for a West African tour.

The group was amazing and they played their song which consisted of a bit of Jimmy Hendrix and Carlos Santana and that was where it all started in 1973.

The tour began with his first performance at Togo, then Cutonoue, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali Bamako, and Bobo Dialasso.

When he got to the Ivory Coast, the musicians were feeling homesick, so he did a couple of shows in Abidjan and parted. What an experience!

He returned to Ghana with a whole set of musical equipment. That was when he formed Ehurusi sounds doing cover songs and his compositions for some time.

Then he left Ghana again with a Liberian group called the Psychedelics and went to Monrovia, left and worked with the group for a year.

Afro National Band came and employed him in Sierra Leone to play with them. He worked with them for about eight months, and he had the biggest breakthrough to form and co-manage his band in Freetown. "The Godfathers Band" became one of the greatest bands in West Africa during that time.

After about two years with Delips & the Godfathers, he was ready to record his songs. He had about three albums through the first phase of his composing research, so he told his co-management that he wanted to release his first album in London (U.K.).

They agreed and flew the entire band to the U.K. to record. They did the recording, C.B.S Records was interested, and it was released in 1980.

The song was No. 1 in Kenya and Uganda, and it was also released in Holland, Germany, and Nigeria.

To cut the long matter short, he stayed in Freetown for another year and he was invited to Sweden to join the Highlife orchestra and later moved to Denmark Copenhagen and formed a group there called KUTARSHI.

They were only playing his songs, so he had the opportunity to compose all the songs for the group.

He did compose some nice complicated songs, which he decided to record an album, and it was a nightmare over there, so he decided to go to London and complete it.

When he came to London it was worse in the African scene, most of the African musicians were part-time workers so he had to change most of the songs to straight 4-4 beats before he could get musicians to work with him.

The album was released in 1984 and titled 'DADADI Boogie Highlife". It was No. 1 in the African charts at Sterns Records. While it was in the market, a management company discovered the album and got him a deal with B.B.C. to do a video and a tour in the UK and Nigeria.

He let go of the B.B.C. offer because of a misunderstanding before he got a heart attack.

He took some time off and started doing sessions with other bands. He worked with Gasper Lawal for some time, supporting Peter Gabriel at Earls Court stadium which was one of the events that he will never forget, and two weeks at Ronnie Scots jazz club he can go on and on.

He came out with his music style, (RITUAL FUTION) blending Indigenous local, ritual, and native Instruments with some modern sounds. He released a C.D., and an album called (RITUAL SYNDICATE), an album titled 'ADIKANFO' which means, those who have gone ahead or taken the lead, are very authentic.

He will be releasing other styles of African music as well.

"'Sankofa', going back to his roots, is very interesting and challenging, for Ghana is a different ball game", he said.

He is now a campaigner, composing songs for human needs, like H.I.V. aids and human rights, eradicating poverty, greed, selfishness, and among others.