There are many sound engineers in Ghana and they have been part and parcel of the success that hiplife has enjoyed through the years. These beat makers have varied styles and different training and several influences. Some of us have digitized the adowa beats, recorded the jama tunes that we so loved during our school days and some have also incorporated foreign rhythms into our musical landscape. There is one beat maker on the block who is beginning to carve a niche for himself as one to watch for the future as Ghanaian music grows. You know the name right?

Richie Mensah is called 'The Beatmaker' by his colleagues. From an interview Museke.com had with him, Richie said he'd been singing all his life with his family. You can check out his hit single, Frema on our website and you'll see he's a force to reckon with. He programmed the beat for Frema himself as well. He taught himself to make beats. He started doing so when he was suffering to find producers who could make beats for the kind of music he wanted to do. Frema's beat makes the song sound R&Bish but I wonder if there isn't another sound engineer in Ghana could conjure such a beat. It's clear Richie had some goals in mind and it didn't look like the sound engineers in the industry could help him realise that. So he went to work, built studio equipment and made it happen.

Richie's plan turned out to be a great one. He used his influence to create a record label called Lynx. One of the artistes he signed, Asem, is blowing up. Guess who produced the beat for the Give me blow track? It's Richie the beatmaker himself. Many non-Ghanaians I have introduced Give me blow to absolutely love the song; the hooks, the lyrics, the beat and the energy the song profuses. The Give me blow beat can stand arms akimbo with most tracks out there and is going to start writing the legacy of Richie.

Richie's portfolio doesn't end at Give me blow and Frema. He also made the beats for Irene and Jane's hit singles, Babe and Heated up. He also did the beat for Don't want to be lonely, a track where Irene and Jane featured Amandzeba. Tinny recently had the privilege of having MTVBase shoot the music video for Incomplete for him. The song's beat was done by Richie as well. Richie also featured on Tinny's Now I know track which he also made the beat for. OJ Blaq, popularly known as Marlon T in the hit television series Sun City, is also signed to Richie's label. Richie did the beat for OJ's Mekura mu. He also produced Asem's single called Pigaro.

He also did the beat for Tiffany's How we do it and featured on the song as well. He also engineered the instrumentals for Scientific's Till Africa Unite and Echo's Golo Golo. I love the beat for Okyeame Kwame's Woso (remix) which Richie did as well and his work on the hooks and verses produced a great remix to a track that seems to be pushing the Rap Doctor's sophomore album. Richie also did the beat for Bradez's new song called Flash.

Richie believes that with determination everything is possible. He is busy trying to promote his own record label, push his album into the limelight and make beats of international standard for various artistes. Time will tell how successful he will be but with his work-rate and ability to learn on the fly, the sky is the limit for him. He is airborne!