The music producer was instrumental in getting the Creative Arts Bill passed and is currently the Programmes Director at Hitz FM a subsidiary of the Multimedia Group and has been working as the President of the Creative Arts Council since 2017.
Mr Okraku Mantey, who is also the Interim President of the Creative Arts Agency, explained that the government met an ineffective system in the creative arts sector when it assumed office in 2017 for which reason the administration is building new systems from scratch.
The nominee said he has been an advocate for the continuation of highlife and has served as a judge for music reality shows where many potentials were realised and will therefore use his rich experience to ensure highlife continues to live.
He said Copy Ghana and GHAMRO have been instituted to protect the intellectual property rights and works of artists, hence will ensure these institutions work as expected emphasizing that social media will be used for the benefit of all especially in schools for students to appreciate the culture of Ghana.
Read more about Mark Okraku Mantey
Mark Okraku Mantey is unmistakably, an exemplification of arts and entertainment. He has the history of the showbiz business around the globe at his Fingerspitze (as a German would say), especially the Ghanaian music industry.
The music producer has been in the arts and entertainment business for close to three decades, and has been behind practically all the big music hits from the long periods of the 90’s.
Mark might be seen as a controversial character by a section of the people, but the reality is that, he has taste for quality stuffs. Perhaps, that is the reason he is always pressed into that ‘bushel’.
The 45 year old has made stars in Ghana like Lord Kenya, Daasebre Dwamena, and so on who have all produced extraordinary hits, thinking back to the 90’s up to the 2000s.
He has for sure, recorded incredible and timeless tunes for numerous Ghanaian artists through his Slip Music Entertainment house, thinking back to the 90’s. He is experienced and well-informed in the historical backdrop of creative arts especially, the Ghanaian music industry.
The truth of the matter is, if you know more about showbiz or entertainment sector, you presumably need to ‘chill’ and stand by until Mark Okraku Mantey gives you the back to front of what the showbiz business looks like.
His music ‘producing thing’ began in 1996 when a gentleman called Amponsah came to him at his workplace Joy FM to help him by playing his tunes on air.
On knowing that Mark was a DJ, Amponsah later returned and said he was having issues producing his tunes, so was depending on Mark to support him. And that was the start of Mark’s excursion in producing melodies.
A couple of Albums that have been under his umbrella are Nana Tuffour’s – ‘Tontonte’, Kojo Ashkan’s – ‘Me Nse Ato Biso’, Felix Bell’s – ‘Butterfly’, and Ohene Kissi’s – ‘Kabiribiri Kyere Me’. And every one of these folks are Ghanaian geniuses in the highlife genre. Mark was behind Oheneba Kissi’s ‘ABC of Love’ album which was a strong hit, and sold more than 400, 000 duplicates.
For Daasebre Dwamena, his first song was similarly a hit. Ghanaians once woke up one day to see a video on TV which was Daasebre’s tune. The song was a beautiful song that featured the heavy weight rap champion at the time, Lord Kenya.
‘Kokokoko’ was the tune- – and this melody was a big one from Mark’s Slip Music camp. He also put resources into Adane Best, Kudjo Sasu, and Felix Bell, Joe Frazier, Swazzy B and Mr. Solomon, Dennis Anderson and so forth
He additionally did a compilation of hit tunes which included artistes like Daasebre Dwamena, Appiah Fordjour, Nana Acheampong, Oheneba Kissi, Ofori Amponsah, Rev Mensah Bonsu ‘Nhyira’, Nana Tuffour (Abeiku), Nana Owusu (It’s Too late), Adane Best (Maafio), Kudjo Sasu (Eye mea), Slim Busterr (Masherita) and George Jaraah (Yaw Burger).
Mark Okraku Mantey has also produced the collections of Nana Yaw Asare (Yewo Nyame), Felix Bell (Next Generation), Lord Kenya (Sika Baa), Adane Best (Bokoo), Jamson (Safoa), Kudjo Sasu (Yesu) and Nana Quame.
He was essentially born for showbiz business, subsequently he didn’t just play around the music zone, but additionally dove into films, where he invested into a TV comedy series ‘Efiewura’ as an executive producer.
He contributed such a great amount of energy for this TV show, which turned out to be extremely a very famous comedy programs in Ghana. The show featured top screen entertainers in Ghana who are well known in the local language films.
Mark Okraku Mantey has also coordinated several top events including the famous ‘Highlife Festival’, and numerous others. Since the origin of this festival, it has consistently been exceptionally successful to date. In fact, Mark is essentially like a ‘Divine force’ of Ghana’s arts and entertainment especially the music space.
He has colossally worked all out through his music production days until he halted and wandered in different areas of his career but still in the same creative industry. He is at present, the President of the Creative Arts Council, Ghana.
Mr Okraku Mantey believes there is a need for people to change their perception about the arts and entertainment, since the arts has been very supportive to the growth of every economy.
