Recognise Recording Engineers

Beats can either make or mar a song, that is, it can easily make an outright hit or wacky one. Beat and lyrics make up a song and the two go hand in hand such that, a sublime beat can help mediocre lyrics to make the song a hit and good lyrics can also help the beat in rare cases.

Some call producers of beats, recording engineers and others simply brand them as the beatmakers. Whatever you choose to call them, Ghana has produced some wonderful recording engineers whose creativity, innovation and ingenuity can match acclaimed beatmakers in the world such as Timothy Mosley (Timberland), Pharrel Williams, Dr Dre and Kanye West.

It is such a pity that, our beatmakers who are the brains behind all these successful artistes are relegated to the background with regards to fame and recognition.

Arguably, the most experienced and successful engineer till date is Zapp Mallet, who has engineered beats for almost all the heavyweights in the Ghanaian music industry. He was instrumental during the reign of Slip Music?s recording artsites which included the likes of Lord Kenya, Daasebre Gyamena and Adane Best.

He has been on the quiet for a while, giving space to the young and budding engineers, I guess. One of such guys is Hammer of the Last Two fame, who has been a force behind the success story of Obrafour, Deeba and lately Tinny whose rapid rise to fame can partly be attributed to Hammer.

From Kumasi comes another talented engineer called Morris Babyface, who can be held for the production of chart-topping tracks for the likes of Kontihene, Okomfo Kwadee, Sony Achiba, etc.

After the break-up of Nananom, Sidney and Omanhene Pozo have experienced successful solo careers much to the credit of one good engineer who prefers to remain latent most often. He is Appietus.

How can we comment on recording engineers and not talk about the reigning engineer of the year Jay Q. Jay Q is all over the place with his name being mentioned on very hit song. He has produced so many artistes, it?ll be tedious counting them but notables include VIP, Buk Bak, King David, etc.

Nowadays every wannabe hiplife star wants to rap on a Jay Q ?Kpanlogo beat?, which has become so common that it?s a nuisance.

To end, a new guy fast establishing himself as one of the best engineers is RoRo, who is the brain behind most tracks on Tic Tac?s international album, as well as Seth Frimpong and the new album from Nana Yaw Asare. It is, therefore, glaring that the success of these musicians hinges on the works of such recording engineers.

Graphic Showbiz once did a profile on Appietus and I thought it was a series to highlight these engineers. It wouldn?t be such a bad idea if space is allotted to profile the beatmakers because it?s about time they also enjoyed fame and recognition.

Beats can either make or mar a song, that is, it can easily make an outright hit or wacky one. Beat and lyrics make up a song and the two go hand in hand such that, a sublime beat can help mediocre lyrics to make the song a hit and good lyrics can also help the beat in rare cases.

Some call producers of beats, recording engineers and others simply brand them as the beatmakers. Whatever you choose to call them, Ghana has produced some wonderful recording engineers whose creativity, innovation and ingenuity can match acclaimed beatmakers in the world such as Timothy Mosley (Timberland), Pharrel Williams, Dr Dre and Kanye West.

It is such a pity that, our beatmakers who are the brains behind all these successful artistes are relegated to the background with regards to fame and recognition.

Arguably, the most experienced and successful engineer till date is Zapp Mallet, who has engineered beats for almost all the heavyweights in the Ghanaian music industry. He was instrumental during the reign of Slip Music?s recording artsites which included the likes of Lord Kenya, Daasebre Gyamena and Adane Best.

He has been on the quiet for a while, giving space to the young and budding engineers, I guess. One of such guys is Hammer of the Last Two fame, who has been a force behind the success story of Obrafour, Deeba and lately Tinny whose rapid rise to fame can partly be attributed to Hammer.

From Kumasi comes another talented engineer called Morris Babyface, who can be held for the production of chart-topping tracks for the likes of Kontihene, Okomfo Kwadee, Sony Achiba, etc.

After the break-up of Nananom, Sidney and Omanhene Pozo have experienced successful solo careers much to the credit of one good engineer who prefers to remain latent most often. He is Appietus.

How can we comment on recording engineers and not talk about the reigning engineer of the year Jay Q. Jay Q is all over the place with his name being mentioned on very hit song. He has produced so many artistes, it?ll be tedious counting them but notables include VIP, Buk Bak, King David, etc.

Nowadays every wannabe hiplife star wants to rap on a Jay Q ?Kpanlogo beat?, which has become so common that it?s a nuisance.

To end, a new guy fast establishing himself as one of the best engineers is RoRo, who is the brain behind most tracks on Tic Tac?s international album, as well as Seth Frimpong and the new album from Nana Yaw Asare. It is, therefore, glaring that the success of these musicians hinges on the works of such recording engineers.

Graphic Showbiz once did a profile on Appietus and I thought it was a series to highlight these engineers. It wouldn?t be such a bad idea if space is allotted to profile the beatmakers because it?s about time they also enjoyed fame and recognition.