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Richy Pitch first made his name back in 1996 as resident DJ at the legendary London Hip Hop club night Scratch. Having worked in the US with the hip-hop label Seven Heads, having his music featured on TV shows (like Oprah Winfrey!) and being in demand on the remix, particularly by Freestyle Records, when in 2006 he moved from UK to Ghana.

The idea was to record with local stars and talent and fuse the classic sound of Ghanaian music with his own production skills that he’d already developed in London. Two years later and back to London, Richy delivered BBE Records Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch.

In truth, I’ve been dipping into this one for weeks and whilst there’s some elements of Ghana’s rich hereitage (see Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds and Ghanaian Blues 1968-81), the album is more like a mixtape as there’s Highlife, Hiplife, Afrobeat and traditional percussion music, all combined with hip-hop DJ/Producer mindset.

Even though it came out at the time of the World Cup not sure how ‘traditional’ tracks like ‘Dey Suffer’ (featuring Yasmeen) and ‘Odo Yea’ (featuring Gouda Traditional Music) didn’t get picked up. I certainly won’t be making that mistake and watch out for MOBO and MTV Africa winner Samini and Reggie ‘The Godfather of Hiplife’ Rockstone on ‘Visa Connection Man’ (definitely a highlight and selected by Pitch for his Solid Steel mix - see links below).

The ‘radio sample’ on ‘We’re Taking Over’ (feat. Batman Samini) is annoying but “Pitch, let the beat unfold” as MCs M3NSA, M.anifest and Wanlov the Kubolor work out on ‘Living Drum’. These three, with Kwesi Dankwa form the core vocal talent on the CD but there’s also appearance by AB, Abiba Tete and Sena as performers I’ve not already mentioned.

The party warms up towards the end with ‘Dey Craze’ getting a taste of dubstep bass with funky horn but the set closes with the hip-highlife cross of ‘Only Your Walkings’ with the interplay of M3NSA & Wanlov The Kubolor - it’s a tune!

Whilst it came out at the time of the World Cup, I’m still thinking about my recent Big Chill experience and Richy Pitch is the type/style/concept that would have been a definite shoe-in the past - don’t miss him at the Big Chill House (see details below).

“A musical journey to Ghana through the ears of a producer from London” it says on the cover and Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch!

Reviewed: Richy Pitch - Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch (BBE) Cat. No: BBE118ACD Release date: 30th August 2010
Tracklistings:
1 Intro featuring Abiba Tete & Kwesi Dankwa (1:18)
2 Obroni featuring Wanlov The Kubolor (3:04)
3 Abanaba featuring Kwesi Dankwa (4:55)
4 Blackstar featuring M.anifest (3:46)
5 Visa Connection Man featuring M3NSA & Reggie Rockstone (4:09)
6 Dey Suffer featuring Yasmeen (6:01)
7 Odo Yea featuring Gouda Traditional Music (4:15)
8 We’re Taking Over featuring Samini & DJ Black (3:35)
9 Living Drum featuring M.anifest , M3NSA & Wanlov The Kubolor (3:28)
10 Show Me How featuring M3NSA (5:45)
11 Ninsuo featuring Kwesi Dankwa (4:33)
12 Dey Craze featuring Sena & Wanlov The Kubolor (3:42)
13 Fufuo featuring AB (3:33)
14 Only Your Walkings feat. M3NSA & Wanlov The Kubolor (4:15)
15 Outro featuring Abiba Tete & Kwesi Dankwa (1:06)

Links:
28th August - Big Chill House: Scratch are proud to present Richy’s Pitch’s official LP launch on BBE Records with M3NSA, plus very special guest DJ Mr Thing! www.bigchill.net/house 257-259 Pentonville Road
London N1 9NL tel: 020 7427 2540 twitter.com/scratchsince96
soundcloud.com/richypitch
www.youtube.com/richypitch
twitter.com/richypitch
www.facebook.com/richypitch
linkedin.com/in/richypitch
richy-pitch.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/richypitch
www.scratch96.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/scratchsince96
www.freestylerecords.co.uk
www.bbemusic.com
http://www.ghanaweb.com The 2010 World Cup: Some Random Thoughts 22.07.10
Solid Steel Show 2010-06-25 with F Word, Richy Pitch and DK - June 29th, 2010 ·http://solid-steel-show-2010-06-25-with-f-word-richy-pitch-and-dk/
Gilles Peterson :: 04/12/03 :: BBC Radio 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson
Richy Pitch - ‘Don’t You’ feat. Marcia Escoffery’ (Above The Clouds)