Appiah Dankwah, popularly known as Appietus (born 12 March 1977) is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian actor musician,

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

based in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana. The name Appietus gained prominence from his signature "Appietus in the mix". It was, however, coined from the phrase "Appiahs' Tools". He has been the winner of six music industry awards in the 10-year span from the start of his career. He won the

Music Honours 2015 Best Music Producer and

Sound Engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

award, Sun Shine Music Awards 2010 Best

award and the UK

Music Awards, Best Sound Engineer in 2008. His remarkable work has also led him to represent the country in some international programs including

WOMEX WOMEX (short for Worldwide Music Expo) is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany ...

2013 in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, UK, and Worldtronics in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, 2012.

Life, career and style

Early life

Born Appiah Dankwah to Osei Poku and Susana Appiah in

, but from

Aduman Aduman is a town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is located in the Afigya-Kwabre District of Ghana. The town is known for the Aduman Senior High School. The school is a second cycle institution. The major occupation is Agriculture. It is abou ...

in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

, Appietus is married to Freda Appiah Dankwah with four children (Nkunim Appiah Dankwah, Nshira Appiah Dankwah, Enigye Appiah Dankwah and Ayeyi Appiah Dankwah). He attended Ebenezer Secondary School in

Dansoman Dansoman is a suburban town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, It is known as one of the largest estates in West Africa. History Dansoman was founded by the late Nii Kojo Danso I in the late 1960s, and was named after him soon after (with "m ...

(Class of 1993). At a young age, he was enthused about playing an instrument and used any object he came across to make a noise. His father bought him his first toy piano to nurture his talent. Appietus took the opportunity to learn to play instruments at the Four Square Gospel Church, Mount Olivet Methodist Church and Alive Chapel Intentional and began learning the basics of sound engineering at Fredima Studios

Adabraka Adabraka is a town in the Korle-Klottey Municipal District, located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was the first affluent neighborhood in Ghana during the British era. The town's economy is dominated by trade, which includes the Adab ...

, Accra, in 1995.

Career

He continued to grow his expertise and improved his sound engineering qualities from Fredima Studios at Adabraka in Accra. He later moved to Kay's Frequency at Asylum Down where he further enriched his production skills in the year 1998. He also worked at Kampsite Studios at

SSNIT The Social Security and National Insurance Trust is an agency of the government of Ghana. Its job description, according to itwebsite is to administrate the National Pension Scheme. In so doing, the trust owns major amounts of stock in Ghana's ...

flats in the year 2003 after graduating from Kay's Frequency. He finally established his own studio (Creative Studioz) at Dansoman Sahara in the year 2006. Creative Studioz started off as a partnership between

Amandzeba Amandzeba Nat Brew (also referred to as Nat Brew (Amandzeba), and Amandzeba), is a Ghanaian highlife artist. Early life Amandzeba is an alumnus of the Christian Methodist Senior High School in Accra. Musical career Amandzeba first became known as ...

and Appietus till the contract expired when Appietus took over as CEO till date. His memorable audio signature was later discovered to be the voice of international Hiplife and ghanaian dancehall heavyweight

Shatta Wale Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., (born 17 October 1984) known by his stage name Shatta Wale, formerly Bandana. is a Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist. Shatta Wale started with stage name "Bandana'' after senior high school and released the hit trac ...

, formerly known as Bandana. He has had the opportunity to be on the panel for the Vodafone Icons in 2012 and 2013. He mentored the group that won the 2012 Vodafone Icons and from which an eminent artist Wiyaala has emerged. In 2014, Appietus collaborated with COPILOT Music and Sound on a cover of Carlinhos Brown's "Maria Caipirnha (Samba da Bahia)". The arrangement represented the musical instrumentation and styles of Ghana for Visa's "Samba of the World", a digital campaign for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Style

Appietus is versatile in his work and has always preferred to give reverence to God on the success of his career. His versatility has been proven in his productions, from the various genres he produces and (or) records. His style has always been to adapt to the flow of what trends, he has recorded several genres of music (

Afro-Pop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

, Hi-Life,

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

Dance Hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

, African Traditional,

Hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Ki ...

Azonto Azonto is a dance and music genre from Ghana. Ghana News Agency cites their study which found out the dance is connected to the traditional Ga dance Kpanlogo, associated with the coastal towns in the country such as Chorkor, James Town, ...

), which affirm his ability to easily adjust when the need arises. From his main profession as a sound engineer he has also actualized in some other professions such as singing and acting. He has just released his first single titled "Kuntunimu", which features Castro. He has further led the industry by introducing a reality show ''Appietus Idolz'', that sought to hunt musical talents.

Appietus Idolz

Appietus Idolz, was the first ever reality show to be organized in Ghana by a sound engineer. The idea was to produce real talents who were capable of making their own music after the competition. The show did not allow participants to sing songs of other eminent artists but rather sing one that they had originally composed to the beats of Apietus. The inspiration for this reality show came from the future of the music industry, as Appietus prospected a few upcoming

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing b ...

who needed someone to produce them. Upon various encounters with quite a number who wished that he produced them, he coined the idea to produce the best of all the talents who represented on his reality show. The winner of the show TJ, is currently being produced by Appietus under the label Creative Records.

Appietus Compilation

The ''Appietus Compilation'' is a mix of Ghana's finest music stars on one platform. Appietus collaborates with an array of music stars on a single compilation. The essence of the compilation was for him to put together tunes that will leave endless rhythms in the minds of consumers. He has within a period of seven years (2008–2015) released three compilations: ''The Revolution'', ''Tip of the Iceberg'', and ''Appietus Compilation Volume 3 (Azonto Fiesta)''.

Discography

Songs Recorded

Compilations

*2008:The Revolution *2010:Tip of the Iceberg *2012:Appietus Compilation Volume 3 (Azonto Fiesta)

Single

* 2014:Kuntunimu

Awards and nominations

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2005 , Himself , Best Recording Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2006 , Himself , Best Recording Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2007 , Himself , Best Recording Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2008 , Himself , Best Recording Engineer ,

UK Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2008 , Himself , Best Sound Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2009 , Himself , Best Sound Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2010 , Himself , Best Sound Engineer ,

Sun Shine Music Awards

, - , Rowspan="1", 2010 , Rowspan="1", Himself , African Best Sound Engineer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2011 , Himself , Best Music Producer ,

Ghana Music Awards

, - , 2012 , Himself , Best Music Producer ,

Ghana Music Honours

, - , rowspan="1", 2015 , rowspan="1", Himself , Best Music Producer And Sound Engineer ,

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em

External sources

Appietus Facebook PageAppietus Twitter PageAppietus Instagram PageAppietus' interview with DJ Abrantie of Capital RadioAppietus speaks to DJ Edu of BBC TJ "Trust Jah"- Dem Try ( Winner Of The Appietus Idolz Season 1 )
Ghanaian musicians 1977 births Living people