Appietus – Two Decades of Hiplife Hits

If you think of the architects of hiplife, the sound which dominated Ghanaian airwaves from the mid 1990s going, a handful of key music producers come to mind immediately: Hammer, Zap Mallet, Jay Q, and… Appietus.

These beat titans have left such a deep mark on the Ghanaian music landscape, they remain very influential figures to this day, with Appietus in particular making regular appearances on TV and radio. So it’s a special honor – and pleasure – to work hand in hand with Appietus on this fantastic collection of hit songs, which are very much alive at any gathering in Ghana, but which somehow remained scattered and not always accessible.

The gap is now bridged, and these hiplife classics are there for the world to enjoy. The compilation features chart topping names such as Praye, Wutah or Barima Sidney, as well as forgotten names such as Cash Unit, who’s song Ayoo was one of the top songs of 2011.

Today, as afrobeats takes over the world, remember these are the songs that took over Ghana, this is the first generation of digitally produced Ghanaian music, the first iteration of Ghanaian music fused in with hip hop. In other words, this is a very significant step on the path to afrobeats, or to put it even more bluntly: this is a piece of history!

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Appietus – Two Decades of Hiplife Hits

If you think of the architects of hiplife, the sound which dominated Ghanaian airwaves from the mid 1990s going, a handful of key music producers come to mind immediately: Hammer, Zap Mallet, Jay Q, and… Appietus.

These beat titans have left such a deep mark on the Ghanaian music landscape, they remain very influential figures to this day, with Appietus in particular making regular appearances on TV and radio. So it’s a special honor – and pleasure – to work hand in hand with Appietus on this fantastic collection of hit songs, which are very much alive at any gathering in Ghana, but which somehow remained scattered and not always accessible.

The gap is now bridged, and these hiplife classics are there for the world to enjoy. The compilation features chart topping names such as Praye, Wutah or Barima Sidney, as well as forgotten names such as Cash Unit, who’s song Ayoo was one of the top songs of 2011.

Today, as afrobeats takes over the world, remember these are the songs that took over Ghana, this is the first generation of digitally produced Ghanaian music, the first iteration of Ghanaian music fused in with hip hop. In other words, this is a very significant step on the path to afrobeats, or to put it even more bluntly: this is a piece of history!

ARTIST

Appietus – Tip of the iceberg

Appietus keeps busy. It’s been well over a decade and he is still churning out the hits: the latest musical earthquake was Azonto Fiesta late last year. Since then Appietus has been a judge on Vodafone’s Icons TV program, but this has not kept him from working his magic in the studio, as this sampler can assess.

Tip Of The Iceberg is just that, the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg being Appietus’ upcoming Big Bang compilation, which is set to confirm Appietus as Ghana’s most influential beatmaker.

Tip Of The Iceberg features 6 songs by Ghanaian musical titans. 5Five are Appietus’ protégé, a hit making team responsible for Move Back (Muje Baya) , one of the songs which turned azonto into a craze. VIP personify hiplife. They have worked themselves up long ago, and have remained relevant for years. Samini is one of the most cherished and recognizable voices in Ghana today. He fuses dancehall and afropop into beautifully contagious jams. Stay Jay erupted with Shashee Wowo, an underground hit which forced itself well into the mainstream, also right as azonto exploded. Kwaw Kesse, the Fanti jokester MC, is one of the most loved and celebrated rappers in Ghana. 2ga are also an up and coming group under Appietus’ wings. Here they collaborate with the number one artist in Ghana, twi lyrical wizard Sarkodie, to create one of the best highlife songs of recent years.

ARTIST

Appietus – Tip of the iceberg

Appietus keeps busy. It’s been well over a decade and he is still churning out the hits: the latest musical earthquake was Azonto Fiesta late last year. Since then Appietus has been a judge on Vodafone’s Icons TV program, but this has not kept him from working his magic in the studio, as this sampler can assess.

Tip Of The Iceberg is just that, the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg being Appietus’ upcoming Big Bang compilation, which is set to confirm Appietus as Ghana’s most influential beatmaker.

Tip Of The Iceberg features 6 songs by Ghanaian musical titans. 5Five are Appietus’ protégé, a hit making team responsible for Move Back (Muje Baya) , one of the songs which turned azonto into a craze. VIP personify hiplife. They have worked themselves up long ago, and have remained relevant for years. Samini is one of the most cherished and recognizable voices in Ghana today. He fuses dancehall and afropop into beautifully contagious jams. Stay Jay erupted with Shashee Wowo, an underground hit which forced itself well into the mainstream, also right as azonto exploded. Kwaw Kesse, the Fanti jokester MC, is one of the most loved and celebrated rappers in Ghana. 2ga are also an up and coming group under Appietus’ wings. Here they collaborate with the number one artist in Ghana, twi lyrical wizard Sarkodie, to create one of the best highlife songs of recent years.

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Appietus – Azonto Fiesta

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Appietus – Azonto Fiesta

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Appietus – The Revolution

You could probably say that at any given time, you can hear one of Appietus’ songs on Ghanaian airwaves. His output is beyond abundant. For well over a decade now, Appietus has steadily composed beats for nearly all top Ghanaian hiplife and contemporary highlife artists, as well as myriads of up and coming stars from all parts of Ghana.

The main reasons for his success are, first, his insatiable talent for creating new highlife-tinted arrangements, which appeal to both kids on the dancefloor, and their nostalgic parents. But it’s also because Appietus pays very close attention to the overall sound quality of his tracks, which is evident on The Revolution, his second compilation album, a strong testimony to his eclectic beat-making skills, and his impeccable bass-heavy sound design.

On The Revolution, Appietus teams up with some of the biggest names in the game, such as 4X4 on the enormous hit Miss Doctor, but also Samini, Kwabena Kwabena, Tinny, Kofi B, D-Flex, KK Fosu, Castro and Wutah, as well as strong newcomers such as Mframa, Old Sodja or Mike.

Appietus clearly demonstrates he can hold his own in the highlife world, while he also clearly knows how to create futuristic GH bangers sure to ignite dancefloors far beyond Ghana’s borders.

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Appietus – The Revolution

4×4 was founded in 2002 after a successful collaboration with hiplife titans Buk Bak. Since then 4X4 have dominated much of the hiplife game, with a string of hits and four highly successful albums.

In 2012, 4×4 truly went international when they joined hands with 8 other African acts including Fally Ipupa and 2Face Idibia to form the ONE8 Supergroup, which recorded the global hit single Hands across the World with international R&B superstar R Kelly.

Their latest album, Waist & Power, contains 3 of the biggest Ghanaian hits of 2011: the title song Waist & Power, Yesi Yesii and more recently Womanizer. The album displays each member’s specific style: Captain Planet raps in four different Ghanaian languages, CoDed adds his ragga/dancehall flavor, and Fresh Prince sings the R&B hooks. Powered by beats by Ghana’s finest engineers, in particular Appietus on the 3 hits mentioned above, the album also features production by Kaywa, JQ, BBryte and Playboi.