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To this day, Dan Amakye Dede remains one of the most prominent and legendary performers of the highlife genre. Dede was born on January 5, 1958, in the small town of Agogo, Ashanti region.
He was the youngest among his nine siblings. Dede's childhood was relatively quiet, and soon he began to show interest in what would become his profession in the future, namely music. The young Dede studied at the local Agogo Roman School, where his interest in music overcame his interest in other subjects. Later, he began his first experiments with music, and although most of them were still at a reasonably low level, he continued to study, and most importantly, enjoyed this process.
Highlife became the primary genre in which the initial musician very quickly merged. This traditional African genre allowed not only to express important messages through lyrics but also to convey energy to the audience, who happily danced to rhythmic songs. After Dede became more serious about music, his skills began to be noticed very quickly. This applied not only to the general musical understanding but also to the voice that Dede also trained. Eventually, he decided to take more serious steps to succeed in his music career, which he confidently chose to pursue.
His first entry into the music business came in 1973 when he joined the band Kumapim Royals, led by Akwasi Ampofo Agyei, or AAA for short. Dede played two roles in the band at once, namely vocalist and composer. Akwasi immediately recognized the young performer’s talent, and with him, the band began their first performances. The audience liked the new member of the band, and Dede himself enjoyed these performances, although later, he realized that he could achieve more. To do this, Amakye Dede went to Nigeria, where he first tried to perform solo. Although it was a novelty for him, Dede achieved some success with his hit "Jealousy go shame". After tasting fame, he decided to create his own music project, namely a band called Apollo High Kings.
Since 1980, Amakye Dede's career has been steadily rising. His energetic Highlife songs gathered a massive number of people, inspiring and filling them with energy. Over the next 20 years, Dede released a large number of albums that eventually gained legendary status, such as "To Be a Man Na Wah", "Bebrebe Yi", "Akonoba", "Iron Boy", and others. The album "Iron Boy" became one of the most popular in the career of the artist. It contained seven songs, among which the most popular was the album’s main song, namely "Iron Boy". Over the years, he has performed at a vast number of concerts, various live performances, and other events.
During this time, Amakye Dede has earned a large number of different titles for awards. For example, in the people, he began to be called by such nicknames as Iron Boy, Abrantie, meaning gentleman (because of his formal attire and politeness to others), and simply Highlife Maestro. Beginning in the 2000s, he decided to slow down his career consciously. The main reason for this was experimenting with different genres of music. After so many years of performing in one genre, namely highlife, he finally decided to work with other genres that are common in Africa. For example, one such genre was Soca. This genre is very similar to another genre called Calypso, with which Dede also experimented. Songs of this genre are reminiscent of a mixture of traditional African highlife or Afropop and more Indian, or in the case of Calypso Caribbean motifs.
Most new listeners and old fans liked the results of these experiments. Although the new albums were unusual, given that Amakye Dede spent so much time on stage performing in the highlife genre, they confirmed that Dede is not going to leave the music scene and is ready to adapt to new standards. To date, Amakye Dede has more than 20 albums, most of which have been both financially and musically successful. Some of the most popular songs of Amakye Dede's career are: "Iron Boy", "Handkerchief", "Mensuro", "Kose Kose", "To be a man na war", "Seniwa", "Mabre", and others.
To prove that it is too early to write him off from the music scene, in 2010, he gave the audience one of the most unusual and impressive concerts in Ghana’s history. He performed in front of a live audience for 6 hours. This event seemed to be the result of many years of participation in the music business.
This concert was a delightful surprise for all fans of highlife music, and most importantly, re-ignited the popularity of the already legendary Amakye Dede. So far, many of Ghana's music critics and prominent musicians have called the concert one of the most outstanding musical events in Ghana's history.
In 2016, Amakye Dede was involved in a severe accident in which he miraculously survived. He, his manager Isaac Yeboah and a bodyguard were going to a certain show, and on the way, another car ran into their vehicle. As a result of the accident, all three were seriously injured. Amakye Dede himself suffered a minor injury, but others were less fortunate. His bodyguard suffered more serious injuries and was treated in hospital for a long time. Unfortunately, his manager Isaac Yeboah suffered life-threatening injuries and died as a result.
After surviving this tragedy after a while, he was still able to return to normal and start performing at various events again. It's even hard to realize that Amakye Dede has been on the big stage for almost 50 years, and he's clearly not going to stop. Although in recent years he has not been so active in releasing new music, his existing musical heritage will remain legendary for many years to come and will undoubtedly be included in the lists of the best highlife music.
For now, Amakye Dede continues his mission - to bring joy to people using his music. Having tested himself in almost all traditional African genres, he has reached a level unattainable for many musicians, and despite his respectable age continues to move forward. Even now, his live performances are filled with kindness, energy, and love for life. Perhaps, for this reason, listeners of all ages come to his performances because such music has no limits and can be liked by anyone.