Kontihene Swerves German Benefactor

A Kumasi recording studio, Hit Digital Productions Ltd., has been compelled by the conduct of Nana Kontihene Appiah, winner of the ‘Best Music Award 2002’, to suspend a pre-financing programmes where musicians are helped on contract to release their albums.

The inability or refusal of Kontihene, alias Emmanuel Nana Appiah Boateng, to share success with his benefactor, Mr. Roberto Henry, Managing Director of the recording studio, has angered his benefactors who contributed in making his Nyankonton album a success.

The management of the studio, including programmers and engineers, have consequently decided to no longer take any risk promoting any aspiring musician as they did for Kontihene after he had allegedly swindled them. The German Manager of the studio, has told the alleged true story of the Nyankonton album whose release has propelled Nana Kontihene into the musical limelight.

Roberto told The Heritage in Kumasi that in March 2001, one Morris Twumasi, a programmer/engineer at the studio, introduced Kontihene to him as a rap artiste who needed help to record his own album. Kontihene had no money to pay for the programme, back vocals and guitarists but upon careful consideration Roberto's Hit Digital Productions decided to give Kontihene "the big chance" to record an album at the studio based on a contractual agreement between the three parties, namely Morris (engineer), Kontihene (musician) and studio manager (Roberto) who is also a sound engineer.

The sale of the recorded album was the subject matter of the contract. The terms were that Hit Digital Productions would provide free recording equipment and rooms, and in exchange the sole right to sell the album.

The parties were to ensure the best quality of the album for good price. Costs of promotion of the album, VAT, copyright and all other costs were to be deducted from the sales after which profit would be shared among the three.

Hit Digital Productions was to take 40% while Morris and Kontihene took 35% and 25% respectively of the net profit.

These conditions were agreed upon and a contract duly signed by the parties on April 28, 2001 upon which the studio financed the album through the hectic moments of programming, arranging, taking vocals, mixing and remixing to the finished product- Nyankonton album.

Roberto is said to have travelled extensively at great cost with the musician in search of a music producer who will be interested in buying the rights.

Finally, Roberto said, Kontihene later brought some amount of money from Agiecoat, which was shared according to the existing agreement even though the total amount of the cassette rights did not cover the normal recording.

Roberto also explained that the transaction between the three parties and Agiecoat had nothing to do with the CD rights.

Thereafter Kontihene is said to have bypassed the two signatories of the contract and signed an allegedly unlawful contract with Coast-to-Coast Records in UK, selling the CD rights to them.

Coast-to-Coast would not pay heed to the notice that Hit Digital Productions were in charge of the CD rights and that any transaction regarding the CD rights of the Nyankonton album between them (Coast-to-Coast) and Kontihene was illegal and went ahead to deal with Kontihene selling 20,000 CD copies of the album abroad as a result. Coast-to-Coast records in a correspondence dated February 28 2002 argued that they are not to blame because they obtained Nana Appiah's consent and confirmation of the capacity that Mr. Bola Ray aka Mr. Nat Adisi should act on behalf of Roberto before effecting the contract.

Roberto does not intend taking any legal action against Kontihene who he described as "a big disappointment" and must be reproved for his naughty acts". "I only want the truth to come out so that the public will know the stuff Kontihene is made of," Roberto wrote in a statement posted on Internet last May 9.

"Winning a musical award is an achievement worthy to be raise, but it's quite disgusting when the musician who won the award refused to give credit to the rightful persons who deserves it. Such is the character we find in Kontihene who did not only give credit to the wrongful personalities, but he also gypped the very people who took him by the hand and made him what his is today," the German studio manager lamented.

Roberto advised up and coming musicians not to follow the footsteps of Kontihene "who does not remember where he came from and how he began" because if they did they would not find many people in their lives who would be willing to help them.

Engineer Roberto continued with his admonition to budding musicians " You may go from bottom to the top overnight but to maintain success an artiste needs double power and energy and the help of other people."

Kontihene's conduct is in spite of his own admission that Roberto's outfit had contributed immensely to the success of his music career. In April last year, Mr. Daniel Ampim (Curtis) serving as the Public Relations Officer of Nana Kontihene's Royal Entertainment Group in a letter to Roberto expressed appreciation for his (Roberto's) active support and thus facilitating his success in the music industry.

Attempts to get Nana Kontihene's comments failed as he was outside the country.

Meanwhile, Kontihene's PRO Ampim Adu when reached for his comments said Accra-based Agiecoat Productions had also levelled similar allegations against Kontihene and that Kontihene who was outside the country at the time of our enquiries, was the best person to answer the allegations.