The Good Old Days
In the late 2000s, a young rapper named Asem took over the Ghanaian music industry by storm. ‘Give me Blow’ as a song does not get full credit for the revolution it caused in the Ghanaian music scene. Besides launching Asem into fame and prominence, it also introduced us to an exceptionally talented producer who would go on to become one of the best our country has ever seen. Richie Mensah was not just the producer of ‘Give Me Blow’. He was an uncredited featured artiste if you think about it. In the last quarter of the song, Asem calls on Richie with ‘fa beat no 3bo wiem’. It was there that the then 20 year old would go on fascinate us with his skills. This same song also gave birth to a sub genre that would be come known as Crunk in Ghana and Richie and his Lynx Entertainment record label would own and dominate it.
While Richie became the hottest and go-to producer for the biggest names in Ghana music (Tinny, VIP, Okyeame Kwame, Bradez etc), his record label would become the single most formidable music powerhouse in the country. There was a time when at least 15 out of 20 songs you heard on the radio or in the club had the tagline ‘It’s a hit mehn’ and that always meant that the song had Richie in it somehow; he either produced it, it was for an artiste on his Lynx Label which automatically meant the previous point or if you heard ‘you know the name right?’ Then that would mean Richie was on the song as a musician. Yes he was an artiste himself who blessed us with his RnB hit Frema and went on to feature on songs with Asem, Okyeame Kwame, Obuor, Eazzy and more.
The Decline
At the peak of it all, Lynx Entertainment had on its roster; Richie, Asem, Eazzy, Ziggy, OJ Black and Irene Logan. It was a powerhouse. And then things started to go awry. Asem left and so did Eazzy and then Ziggy. Richie was still flourishing as a producer but the power he wielded in the industry when he had the hottest musicians in the game had diminished. In an effort to reestablish himself and the label in 2012, he created the D3 music group which was a girl band of three singers who managed a few songs that got fairly impressive response before it was disbanded. At that point it seemed to many that the midas touch Lynx had once had was no more. Asem had gone on to create a hit song with Kwabena Kwabena and Eazzy had contested in the Big Brother Africa competition.
The Long Road Back
If there is one thing that is most admirable about Richie Mensah besides his incredible talent as a producer and his superhuman ear for commercially successful music, it is his relentlessness. Many musicians and music industry titans have given up after far less. Richie would not be one of those. Before anyone knew it, a song by a new female voice featuring the very popular voice of Zeal from VIP was making waves on radio. That was the mainstream burst of MzVee’s career in 2014. In the last three years, the record label has focused exclusively on her career and made her one of the biggest names in Ghanaian music, even going on to secure a BET Award nomination.
The Glorious Now
While MzVee has gone on to attain greatness, Richie has added two new artistes to his roster. Both acts are products of MTN’s Hitmaker competition. The first, KiDi was the winner of the 2015 edition while Kuami Eugene was a contestant in the 2016 installment of the show. It is not clear what the magic recipe is but in the year 2017, the two Lynx Entertainment artistes have become two of the biggest musicians in the country with both of them having the top two biggest songs in the country in the second half of the year (Odo by KiDi & Angela by Kuami Eugene). Safe to say, the Lynx Entertainment that ruled music in Ghana seems to be on a meteoric rise again and it is a beautiful thing to watch.
The Future
As the success keeps piling up and things seem great now, what does the future hold for the label? Will Richie Mensah sign more artistes, will he be able to push out more bangers from his hit making factory? We wait to see. What we know is that, in the 2018 edition of the Ghana Music Awards, Lynx Entertainment will be present with a long list of nominations and hopefully awards. This is the story of how a young guy started, persevered and came back from challenges to dominate our music industry. You know the name right?
COVEBEAT 
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