Mustapha Tettey Addy was born in 1942 in Avenor, one of the villages in the capital city of Ghana , in Accra . He is a member of the Ga people and he was born into a family of well known drummers.

His father, Kpani Kofi Addy, was also a highly respected Akon priest who taught him to play the gongs at an early age.