Jeff Tennyson Quaye (born 24 December 1977 in Osu), professionally known by his stage name Jay Q, is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian musician, record producer, record executive, sound engineer, songwriter and keyboardist. He is the founder and current CEO of Q-Lex Entertainment and Jay-Qlex Recording Studio. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many musicians, including

Buk Bak Buk Bak was a Ghanaian musical group composed of Prince Bright, Isaac Shoetan and Ronny Coaches. They rapped in Ga, Twi, and Pidgin, and were the first hiplife group in Ghana to be successful with Ga lyrics. As of 2006, they were both pursuing ...

, VIP,

Castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...

Mzbel Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah (born 26 December 1979), popularly known as Mzbel, is a Ghanaian Hiplife artist. She is the CEO of Mzbel Music, Bel Group, Bel Eye Media and others. Mzbel is a radio presenter and also an actor, having appeared in several ...

, Obrafour,

Daddy Lumba Daddy Lumba (born 29 September 1964) is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and musician. Lumba was born Charles Kwadwo Fosu in a village called Nsuta Amangoase in the Sekyere Central District, near Mampong in the Ashanti Region. He is widely regarded ...

Nana Acheampong Ernest "Owoahene" Nana Acheampong, popularly known as Nana Acheampong, is a Ghanaian Highlife musician. He is also the other half of the famous Lumba brothers who popularized Burger-highlife in Ghana (the other is Charles Kojo Fosu, also known as ...

, Ofori Amponsah, Akosua Agyapong, Obuoba J. A. Adofo,

Wulomei Wulomei is a Ghanaian music group that was founded in 1973 by Nii Tei Ashitey, with the encouragement of the dramatist and musician Saka Acquaye. Acquaye managed the band and wrote some of the music. Ashitey had previously been a percussionist for ...

, and others. As a producer Jay Q is credited as a key figure in the popularization of

Hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United K ...

Highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...

and Gospel. He introduced Jama (kpanlogo) into Hiplife, which became laudable and was accepted in

, Africa and the rest of the World. In 2003, Jay Q won an award for Best Sound Engineer in

Early life

Jay Q was born and raised in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana, by Jeff Tennyson Quaye (snr) and Miss Comfort Adjin-Tettey. His church, Emmanuel Assemblies Of God, sponsored his keyboard studies at the Oriental School Of Music (Adabraka, Accra). He later joined Resurrection Power and Living Bread Ministries and met Fred Kyei Mensah (Fredyma Studio), who taught him music programming and introduced him to recording.

Career

In the mid-to-late 1990s, his productions started getting airtime on radio. In the late '90s, he worked with a lot of artists and different genres of music from Hi-life (Paapa Yaw Johnson, Alhaji K. Frimpong, George Jahraa, Obuoba J. A. Adofo, Sibo Brothers, Kaakieku, Pat Thomas, etc.,), Gospel (Suzzy and Matt, Jane and Dan, Osuani Afrifa, Andy Frimpong, Mr/Mrs Collins Nyantakyi, choirs, etc.), Cultural band and live band (Wulomei, Saneko, Adams family, etc.), hiplife (Bukbak, Vip, Exdoe, Oman Hene Pozo, etc.)... All these productions of Jay Q in the '90s were Analog and were recorded and produced in Combined House Of Music (CHM), Accra. In 2000, Technology was changing so fast that digital recordings were becoming popular and relegating analogue recording to the back so Jay Q moved from CHM (an Analog Studio) where he used Cubase and Notator on the Atari computer to Virtual sound Lab (a fully Digital recording studio) and fell in love with Pro Tools on apple mac (and that's what he uses presently). It was in Virtual Studio that Jay Q experimented with what has made him a world phenomenon, the Jama/Kpanlogo he introduced to hiplife with Bukbak's track "I'm going to come" that met so much criticism since hiplife at the time was mostly hip-hop and undefined. The movement became so popular and uncontrollable (as other producers and engineers also got initiated into it, and gradually, music publicists and journalists saw it as the true definition of hilife. The core of the Jama/Kpanlogo rhythm is the fusion of indigenous instruments such as the congas, cowbell, maracas, claps, whistle, brass and guitars, jembe, gome, etc. Jay Q moved from Virtual to Hush Hush Studio in 2002 and in 2003 he won best recording engineer of the year in the Ghana music awards in Ghana and the following year in the UK for the track "Ahomka Wo Mu" by VIP. Jay Q formed a record company called Q-Lex Entertainment which he used to nature talents and executive produce them. He mostly helped these artistes with lyrics and composition. Some of the artists he discovered and financed their debut recordings are Castro, 4×4, Dr. Doh, etc. In January 2012, Jay Q bought Hush Hush Studio.

Abroad

In 2003, he performed with BukBak at a world music festival in Gothenburg (Sweden), and they recorded some tracks there. Sooner, Ghanaian musicians abroad started requesting his services and in 2006 to 2007, he made several appearances to UK and recorded so many Ghanaian artistes based there, including Yoggi Doggi, Deeba Mama B, Howls of Lords etc. Ghanaians in the States heard of his trips to the UK and in summer 2007, he made his first trip to the States to record musicians. He later became resident engineer at Kingdom studios (Chicago), which was owned by the Ghana Music Association of Chicago president Dan Boadi. Musicians travelled from all parts of the states to Chicago and recorded with Jay Q. The Ghana musicians association of Chicago (Ghamachi) awarded Jay Q with an honorary member of the association. In 2011, he and a friend Kay Rockks opened an entertainment company called Jay Q Entertainment in Atlanta Georgia (USA) which seeks to nurture artistes in the states and promote events. Jay Q after spending some time in America returned home and bought the hush hush studio and together with the equipment he bought from the states, operates in his Q-Lex studio in Accra.

Production Discrography

* Oluman Boogie - FBS ft. Tinny * Ahomka Womu - VIP * Sikletele - 4x4 * Odo Fitaa - 4x4 * Nshornaa - 4x4 * Odo Electric - VIP * Toffee - Castro * Boneshaker - Castro ft. Shilo & Skrewface * Sradinam (Remix) - Castro Ft. Triple M * African Woman - Kokoveli Ft. Skrewface * 16 Years - Mzbel ft. Castro * Yopoo - Mzbel * I'm in Love - Mzbel ft. Castro * Obaano - Okumfour Kwaadee ft. Pope Skinny * Juliana - K2 ft. Bright * Monkey Chop Banana - Nkasei ft. Bright * Sanbra - Madfishh Ft. K.K Fosu * Klublofo (I'm Going to Come) - Buk Bak * Kakatsofa - Buk Bak * Bonwire Kente - Ofori Amponsah * Kwame Ko - Ofori Amponsah * Agenda - Daddy Lumba * Angel - Daddy Lumba * P.O.P - Daddy Lumba * Okukuseku Nipa Hu Yehu - Daddy Lumba * Akukor Perming - FBS * Shine Your Eyes - Obour Ft. Papa Shanti * Jacket - Praye * Adwoa - Obour ft. A.B. Crentsil * Esi - Kontihene Ft. Kwabena Kwabena * African Woman - Kokoveli Ft. Skrewface * Jama Oo Jama - Castro, Dr. Poh, Chakua, Kwaku Abebrebe * Koti - Triple M * Osei Yei (Ghana 08 Africa Cup Of Nation Theme Song) - Ft Ofori Amponsah, Obrafuor & Samini & Tinny & Obour & Chicago * Gonja Barracks - Bukbak * You 4 know - Bukbak * Komi Ke Kena - Bukba * Broni - Bukbak * Yaa Asantewa - Bukbak * Agyeii – Bukbak Ft. Nkasei * Na Who Cause Am – Dr. Poh Ft. 2Tee * Mini - Bukbak * Wone Me Baby (Remix) - Madfish Ft. Kofi Nti §

Personal life

, Jay Q has a child called Aiden Tennyson who is 10 years old he plays football and loves piano. Jay Q is a practicing Christian. His hobbies include golf and watching movies.

References

External links

Jay Q
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay Q 1977 births Ghanaian chief executives Ghanaian musicians Ghanaian record producers Keyboardists Living people Ghanaian songwriters Ghanaian business executives