Richmond has been invovled in Ghanaian Entertainment for over a decade. While at the University he worked with Premier Productions, Ghana and moved on to establish a multimedia company Imagination Unlmited. He became the Promotions Agent for Rhinos Energy Drink upon its introduction into Ghana. Within a year it had become a house hold name. He worked with Kojo Antwi on the Promotion of some of his 24th Night Annual Concerts, specialising in the fund raising.

 

 

He has been the Agent for Lynx Entertainment and was directly involved in introducting  New day sensation Asem and Richie. He has also been involved in the management of artistes notably the ever green Nana Fynn. He has also been around and helped promote several artistes including Becca, Mframa, OJ, Tiffany, Daniel and Irene Logan.

 

 

Besides his work in the music scene he is a fine manager having succesfully been at the helm of affairs in three business entities - Rychie Creations, Pro Imagination Limited and currently Prime Taget Comunications. He has also worked with various oganisations including Tittle Track Productions, Revele Films, Reagent University, Ovation International, EKB Records just to mention a few.

 

 

Richmond is the Producer of 1800 an artiste interview Television programme, the consulting editor for Spiritlife, a religious quaterly magazine, the editor of  Celebrity Magazine, a Ghanaian Entertainment Magazine and the brain behind the Pinnacle project.

Emmanuel Mallet, also known as Zapp or Papa is one of Ghana’s best recording engineers, he doubles as a music producer. Born in Accra, he had his secondary education at Accra Academy from 1975 to 1982 and continued to the Kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology where he read for a degree in Publishing Skills. He started playing drums for the school band while in secondary school and moved on to feature on guitar and bass for numerous Christian groups in Accra and in Kumasi when he was in the university. Over the years he has established himself as one of Ghana’s finest guitarist.

 

 

Emmanuel Mallet started recording at the ARC Studios in Tema and he moved to the C.H.M Studio in Accra. Later, he recorded at Kampsite and then to T.L.C. Studio. Currently, Zapp is the head executive of Title Track Productions Limited, his own company and studio. He has worked with various high profiled Ghanaian and International artistes. Artistes he has worked with include Kojo Antwi, Reggie Rockstone,Tagoe Sisters, Lord Kenya, Ofori Amponsah and Daasebre Gyamena. He has also worked with Obour, Suzzy & Matt, Becca, Irene Logan and Nana Quame. Others are Nana & Dan, Helena Rhabbles Praye, Akyeame, Nana Fynn and Wutah.

 

Over the years Zapp has been recognized and awarded on several platforms. He is the only engineer to have won the Ghana Music Award for three consecutive years; 1999, 2000, 2001. In 1994 the Entertainment Critics and Arts society of Ghana adjudged him the best Instrumentalist. Zapp is recognized as one of the pioneers of the Hip life genre which started in 1994. Zapp, served on the 2008 Opening and Closing Ceremony Sub-Committee of the Confederation of African Nation football tournament hosted by Ghana. He was the Music Director and Guitarist of the Burger Highlife Concert tour.

 

 

He is a Resident Judge one of Ghana’s finest music reality shows- Stars of the future. He has also been a Guest Judge on Mentor, the most watched music reality show in Ghana. He represented Ghana as a Judge at the final of the Nestcafe African Revelation contest staged in Accra. Zapp is a member of the planning and selection committee of the Ghana Music Awards. He is an Editorial Board Member of Pinnacle Magazine. He has been a facilitator on the British Council organized Art showcase and interruptive platform WAPI.

 

Currently, Zapp is in the process of creating a new sound involving the experimentation of fusing different genres of music, mainly Orchestra, Rock, Jazz and Pop blended with the rich and beautiful African rhythms. He is also working on a Highlife rejuvenation project. Zapp has also started a Record Label to produce and market artiste and feather boost his rhythm experimentation project.

Abraham Ohene Gyan is about the highest profiled person when it comes to Music Videos in Ghana. He is directly responsible for the Music Video revolution in Ghana about a decade ago.

 

 

He runs a multimedia Organisation, Ohene Media Limited and has started a Music Distribution outlet OM Music. He distributes music for 5Five, Lady Prempeh, Asem and Richie among others.

 

He is a Film Director and is well revered in the entertainment industry in Ghana. He has recently started running a 100% Ghanaian music Television Station called Fiesta.

Carlos Sakyi has gone across the spectrum when it comes to showbiz in Ghana and beyond, particularly the Music Industry, having played practically every role one can think of.

As a keyboard virtuoso, he featured in several top recording sessions for stars and unknown alike, including playing as the lead keyboardist for Osibisa’s keyboard player Kiki Gyan and Glen Ghanababa Warren (son of the legendary drummer, GHANABA),  during their joint live tour of Ghana in the early 80’s to promote their solo album projects.

The seventh born of legal luminary and first Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Africa South of the Sahara, the late lawyer Kwasi Dua-Sakyi and his dear wife Rose, Carlos started playing on the family Bentley piano from age 5, composing his first song when he was only 6 years old!

In the 70’s he featured prominently on keyboards and vocals for the Mfantsipim School bands Purple Axis, Mardis Funk and Beavers Inc., then jammed at the Anansekrom student pop chains at the Arts Centre, his contemporaries including keyboard greats Bessa Simons and the late Jon K. He also played in the band “Moving Geminis” with Amsterdam based Sloopy Mike Gyamfi and on debut albums for Chikinchee, the Barbecues, Sledge, and later for the likes of Benin’s Jem Jerry among several other African musicians, participating in recordings and major live shows in Togo and Benin.

At the beginning of the 80’s, Carlos signed a contract with the international  prestigious record company, Decca Records, Nigeria, establishing himself as one of the new young songwriters the West African coast was producing. This alliance culminated in a “Carlos & Miki” album titled “Stand Up (for your rights)”, a revolutionary piece written by Carlos, in a collaborative effort with his friend and colleague guitarist/songwriter Michael Paap.

The album’s primary theme was the call to fight against oppression and discrimination in the world, a theme Carlos would harp on much later in his crusade to transform Ghana’s embattled music and copyright industries. His fellow recording artistes on Decca included icons like Afrobeat king Fela Kuti and Juju music superstar Ebenezer Obey. Carlos next went on to team up with brothers Kiki and Kojo Gyan as the KG band and released the album “YOU”, penning its same name hit title track, a western oriented pop song, with Kiki Gyan.

In 1983, Sakyi, together with versatile musicians velvety voiced singer Ashitey de Luv, bassist Bibi Dowuona-Hammond, guitarist Aweke Glymin and drummer Joel Jacobus, formed the OSU band, performed several live jazz oriented shows in clubs like Keteke, Black Ceasar, Impulse, etc. and later left for London, UK, where they teamed up with Osibisa’s Alfred Bannerman and Emmanuel Rentzos under the SHAKA Records label and recorded and released “Merry Go Round/Light Up My Fire”.

This hard funk single made huge waves in the UK, beating Eddy Grant’s “Romancing the Stone” and Imagination's “Illusion” in the prestigious Blues and Soul chart ratings. This phenomenal OSU single featured American top ten artistes, Princess on guest vocals, international percussionist Francis Forster (Paul Simon), virtuoso saxophonists George Lee and Ray Allen, and several others

Carlos and the OSU guys returned to Ghana and joined the late legendary music producer Faisal Helwani in Studio 99 on 5th Street, Sinkor, in the Liberian capital, where he played a pivotal role in producing over 28 albums of Liberian music for superstar acts including Fatu Gayflor and the Voices of Liberia. They performed live jazz music in Liberia’s popular Carlton Club under the name “The Boys from Timbuktu”, together with other musicians from Sierra Leone and Israel.

Carlos worked extensively with Faisal Helwani on several other projects including Captain Yaba’s works and blind musician Onipa Nua’s landmark album, where he featured not only on keyboards and synth bass, but played a vital role in the horn and other arrangements. He also featured as a session keyboardist for the Tarantula band, with Ashitey deLuv, Ameyaw Baffour, Adjivon, Prince Forster and Nana Nkrumah.

In 1986, Carlos discovered songwriter/performer Talal Fattal (current CEO, Metro TV) and produced and featured on his debut smash pop album “It’s Not Over”, writing a couple of songs on the album including the infectious mid tempo R&B groove “Lady I Love You”. For this groundbreaking effort they won a prestigious Entertainment Critics Reviewers Association of Ghana (ECRAG) award for “Discovery of the Year”.

He then went solo in 1987 and spearheaded the contemporary gospel revolution in Ghana with his innovative rendition in Reggae/Ragga of the popular Christian hymn “Stand Up for Jesus”, after which he left once again for the UK to produce a funk version of “Onward Christian Soldiers”, which resulted in the production of the first professional Ghanaian music video clip to be shown on Ghana Television, produced by a top German director. He featured prominently his sister and powerful singer (now lawyer) Angela on lead vocals on several tracks

The album also featured versatile British singer Terry Hanton on the Carlos penned timeless song ‘ARE YOU READY’, described by key British record producers as ‘Top 40 material’. Nigeria’s Lagos Weekly newspaper described Carlos Sakyi as “Ghana’s Quincy Jones” as a result of this fantastic piece.

He followed it up with the all time evergreen smash hit “I Love Jesus” a massive crossover critically acclaimed hit that dominated Ghana’s music landscape and changed the face of the gospel industry, propelling gospel music into the mainstream. ECRAG, recognizing the monumental impact Carlos was exerting on the music industry, honoured him with its Gospel Music Award in 1992. Carlos and Talal also ventured into the music distribution arena, working with artistes like music maestro Kojo Antwi, among others.

In the early 90’s, Carlos, in partnership with printing business magnate Steve Marfo (one of the music industry’s foremost investors), created and set up what has been described as arguably the biggest thing to happen to showbiz in Ghana- the birth of the phenomenal MEGASTAR Ltd., which operated both as a Record Company and Artiste Management organization, a marriage of big corporate business and showbiz, clearly the first of its kind in Ghana’s music history. Carlos Sakyi, in true trailblazer fashion, was its brain and pioneering Managing Director, kick-starting the colossal project with his 1994 critically acclaimed album “Yesu Kristo”.

Artistes he managed under MEGASTAR include stars of iconic status like highlife gurus Amakye Dede and Jewel Ackah, and gospel superstars the unbeatable Tagoe Sisters, classy songstress Naana Frimpong and prolific songwriter Rev. Thomas Yawson.

The Megastar project has impacted positively on the lives of several young musicians, giving them great exposure and life changing opportunities to develop their skills and talents within an enabling environment. One of the spectacular “fruits” generated from this venture is keyboard genius Kwame Yeboah, Carlos’s all-time favourite “little wonder boy”, who has achieved international fame and played for mega artistes and groups including Michael Jackson, Craig David, Westlife, Osibisa and countless others.    

Carlos has 7 solo albums to his credit, has written, and/or arranged and produced gospel albums for artistes including Naana Frimpong (key hits include “Odo Pa”, “Agyenkwa Nyame”, “Adom”), Angela Sakyi (Onyame Kokroko”) and Mary Ghansah (“Enka Ekyir”), and operated as a Mixing Sound Engineer, instrumentalist and arranger/producer for Bishop Michael Osei Bonsu’s landmark award winning album, “Awurade Gya” and others.
 
He has also produced several secular works for the likes of guitarist Kwesi Dankwa (“African Black Music”, critically acclaimed in France) and KASH (“Sika”). He featured on keyboards in the all star Ebony Band, together with veteran guitarist Nat Fredua and the versatile stylish singer, Lola Everett. In the late 90’s, he produced a major event for Fantasia TV in Kumasi featuring Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Naana Frimpong, Diana Akiwumi and several others.

His innovative spirit and dexterity on the keyboards, coupled with his versatility and immense songwriting skills in several genres (Afro pop, highlife, R&B, Reggae, Funk/Jazz, etc.) have been recognized and acknowledged by various arts and culture journalists and contemporaries alike who describe his works in glowing terms in both the print and electronic media.

He has clearly achieved iconic status in the eyes of many, including former Graphic Showbiz editor, Lee Accorley, who in an article on September 2nd, 1999, states: “The mere mention of the name Carlos Sakyi makes one develop goose pimples because of the artiste’s exploits in the field of music…Carlos Sakyi is a master of all that he surveys…”
 
He has played a pivotal role in pushing for accountability and transparency in the embattled Copyright sector, where he has carved his name in gold as one of its most effective, passionate and energetic advocates, building a reputation of invulnerability to fear or intimidation. He has exhibited total dedication to ensuring socio-economic empowerment and transformation for practitioners of music and the Creative Arts in Ghana.

Carlos was spokesman for the Coalition of Copyright Advocates (COCCA), undoubtedly one of the most effective c ivil society pressure groups in Ghana’s history, incorporating the likes of gifted actor and satirist KSM, other gurus from academia and many other influential creative arts practitioners. He is also affiliated to GHASCAP, PROMAG and currently AMRO, all key components of Ghana’s beleaguered Music scene. He has made several presentations on the state of Ghana’s Music and Copyright Industries to Ghana’s Presidency and Parliament at various times on behalf of his associates.

Colleague stars who have been in the trenches with Carlos include Charles Amoah, the late Khodjo Aquai, Talal Fattal, Rex Omar, Kojo Antwi, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Osibisa’s Mac Tontoh, the late Faisal Helwani, former leader of the celebrated Uhuru band, Stan Plange, Panji Anoff and many other music industry “freedom fighters”.

In 2007, Carlos Sakyi led a three man team of broadcasters in the capacity of Head of Research, Events and Promotions of Metro TV to Johannesburg, South Africa sponsored by the international organization BUSAC (Business Sector Advocacy Challenge) Fund, interacting with and interviewing the cream of South Africa’s music and copyright business leaders including CEO’s Nicholas Mutsatse of South African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO), Ivor J. Harburger of Gallo Records, Peter Vee of BMG and CISAC’s Rob Hooijer, among several others.

He subsequently authored a highly informative and educative thought provoking booklet entitled “COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRIES OF GHANA AND SOUTH AFRICA”, exposing flaws in the music and copyright sectors in Ghana, particularly lack of accountability and transparency, and calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the system, adoption of systems and structures based on good governance practices and the fostering of an enabling environment for creativity to flourish.

His name has become synonymous with “Copyright” in Ghana, with many acknowledging him as Ghana’s foremost Copyright Advocate.

He also played a role as Television Host on the groundbreaking empowerment focused Metro TV program “Music & Copyright”, produced by Carlos himself, with theme music also composed by him. He appears as a regular panelist on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review and frequently features prominently on several radio programs including Asempa FM’s Entertainment Hall and many others.

He has operated as Moderator and Co-ordinator of three Metro/BUSAC workshops and Ghana Music Award’s 2009 Music Industry Seminar, and earlier in the year 2007 as a Conference Speaker at a UNESCO/Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture “World Book and Copyright Day” Workshop under the theme “Copyright, the Creator and National Development” organized by Professor Atukwei Okai’s Pan African Writer’s Association (PAWA), and other key programmes.

Carlos played a key role as project consultant in the Africa Media Core team that organized the Ghana jazz Festival which featured live international American artistes including Freddie Jackson, Angela Bofill, Bibi Wynans and later international gospel shows featuring the celebrated Don Moen and Israel Houghton of the USA.

One unforgettable moment forever etched in Carlos’s memory is standing in a prayer chain next to Don Moen, with hands around each other’s shoulders at the departure lounge of the Kotoka International Airport, Accra. He was particularly impressed by Moen’s sweet nature, simplicity and profound humility, despite his colossal status, a character trait he believes Ghanaian stars would do well to emulate.

Other international entertainment industry personalities he has met or interacted with over the years in his showbiz life either as artiste, producer, performer or manager include Grammy Award Winners Gamble and Huff, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Meiway, Ayinde Barrister, Hugh Masakela, Rhian Benson, Ghanaba, Okyerema Asante, Bibi Brew,  Kwaw Ansah, Marcus Johnson, Mike Phillips and many others.

Carlos currently operates as Chief Executive Officer of Galaxee Entertainment, with his counterpart Kofi Oppon heading its UK operation. He is also former Chief Operating Officer of Number One Records, during which he interacted with the likes of TuFace and Kenny’s of Nigeria, Talal and others.

He is a Member of the Board of Director’s of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, a women’s (and children’s) legal and human rights organization and owns the multimedia consultancy outfit, CASAK. He is also on the Board of Pinnacle Music Group.

He has upon invitation given presentations on copyright at the University of Ghana and other educational institutions, including lecturing over 150 students of Imhotep Institute. Many university students and several researchers from institutions both home and abroad (particularly from the UK and USA) consult him on a regular basis on copyright issues for their studies, thesis and other relevant information, upon recommendation of their lecturers, professors and organizations.

Excerpts of Carlos Sakyi’s presentations have been quoted in international articles, one of them being the highly instructive “Creative Development- Helping Poor Countries by Building Creative Industries” by Professor Mark Schulz of the Southern Illinois University School of Law and Alec Van Gelder, Network Director of International Policy Network, London.

He maintains close links with his friends in academia, particularly Professor Willie Anku, Director of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, and Professor John Collins, a respected music lecturer and musicologist. Carlos has also written articles on Arts and Culture topics in some of Ghana’s key print media on iconic groups like the world class OSIBISA. Some of his articles include “Osibisa @ 40” and “Music & Law-A Progressive Combination.”

He is collaborating on a number of projects with his great and highly esteemed friend, the iconic saxophonist Teddy Osei, leader of OSIBISA, who continues to inspire countless musicians.

Major musical influences in his life include the consummate multiple Grammy Award winning inimitable guitarist Carlos Santana, the peerless OSIBISA, Barry White and the legendary music producer, Quincy Jones.

Carlos is currently in the process of compiling a “Songs of Carlos Sakyi” album- creative original works from his solo albums and other works that showcase his phenomenal talent, diversity and versatility as a songwriter. He intends focusing more on songwriting and music publishing as he launches into what he believes will be the most creative and productive period of his life.

For Carlos, this is only the “tip of the iceberg”. The best is yet to come!!!

Laurene Addy is a lecturer at Nafti and assists in tution at the New York University. She is a video Editor and runs a company Ekua ba.