Ghanaian Afro-Dance music legend Afrikaba Delips dishes out the brand new song which he titled Dideo an twi word which literally means Enjoy.
Afrikaba Delips is an African Ghanaian, a Panafricanist, born in Kumasi. He started playing music when he was 16years old. Learning to play guitar at college, he made his first stage appearance playing the drums. Most musicians I know plays, two or three bands in Africa, playing too many bands gave him a lot of experience in live performances.
He has a recording studio in Accra, that is where he does most of his recordings at. When he left college, He then later became a self thought. If he can remember correctly 1970-1977. He started with the Road Runners band and then the Los Americanas.
He later played K. Gyasi & the Noble Kings, K.Frimpongs Cubano fiesta, City 9, Star-lite band, Gee Dees, he formed Ehurusi sounds, and later invited to Accra to play B.soyaya, and then left to Vis-à-Vis then Drew Chase Delegations. composing, arranging, engineering, managing, singing and producing.
He felt strongly at that time that he wasn’t still doing enough as a young teen with a lot of energy; either he had to start learning how to compose his own songs, or do research about African music. So he then decided to travel to other African countries and work with them and pick some of their Ideas and rhythms and style 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 lead by a white French lady who wanted a keyboard player for a West African tour.
The group was amazing they were playing their own songs and a bit of jimmy Hendrix and Carlos Santana. That was where it all started 1973. The tour began, His first performance was Togo, then Cutonoue, Niger,Bokina Faso, Mali bamako,Bobo dialasso, When h got to Ivory coast the musicians were feeling home sick, so he did couple of shows in Abidjan and parted, what a experience!.
He went back to Ghana with a whole set of musical equipment. That was when he formed Ehurusi sounds doing cover songs and his own compositions for a period of time. Then he left Ghana again with a Liberian group called the Psychedelics and went to Monrovia, left and worked with the group for one 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 own band in Freetown and he did it, one of the greatest bands in West Africa at that time, THE GODFATHERS BAND.
About two years with Delips & the Godfathers he was ready to record his songs, he had about three albums through the first faze of his composing research, so he told his co-management that he want to release his first album in London (U.K.) so the agreed and flew the whole entire band to U.K. to record. The did the recording, C.B.S records was interested, it was released in 1980.
He head it was No 1 in Kenya & Uganda, it was also released in Holland, Germany and Nigeria, To cut long matter short, he stayed in Freetown for another year and he was invited to Sweden to join High life orchestra and later moved to Denmark Copenhagen and formed a group there called KUTARSHI. The were only playing his own songs, so he had the opportunity to compose all the songs for the group, he did composed 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 have to change most of the songs to straight 4-4 beat before he can get musicians to work with him.
The album was released in 1984 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 U.K and Nigeria. Misunderstanding between me and my musicians, he let go of the B.B.C offer 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 that was one of the events that he will never forget, and two weeks at Ronnie Scots jazz club he can go on and on.
His achievements over the years. He came out with his own music style, (RITUAL FUTION) blending Indigenous local, ritual, and native Instruments with some modern sounds. He released a C.D. an album called (RITUAL SYNDICATE) album titled ADIKANFO 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 is now a campaigner, composing songs for human needs, like H.I.V.aids, Human Rights. Eradicating Poverty, Greed Selfishness & Manipulation, Starvation, War & Arms struggle, Global Warming, Human trafficking, African Unity.
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