Hiplife
| Hiplife | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1990s, Ghana |
| Typical instruments | |
Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. It is also influenced by dancehall and reggae. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
Reginald Osei who is known in music circles as Reggie Rockstone is touted as the originator of the art of Hiplife while others too hold divergent views on the origination of Hiplife. Nonetheless, the origins of Ghanaian hip hop go back to the 1980s, with performers such as K.K. Kabobo and Gyedu Blay Ambolley. As early as 1973 Ambolley released his first record, "Simigwado" – a semi-rap in Fante-style highlife – to a small audience, which showed him performing highlife variations with fast-spoken, poetic lyrics. Ambolley would go on to be hailed the "father of rap" not only in Ghana but in the world. Over time, Ghanaians became influenced by American hip hop, reggae, dance hall. There was an emerging underground hip hop collective in the capital Accra
Hiplife's history dates back to the early 1990s Jeff Tennyson Quaye, better known around the world as Jay Q, is one of the pioneers of hiplife (in the mid-1990s) and considered the backbone of Ghana music as a whole; in recognition of his own variation and introduction of Jama/kpanlogo to hiplife, he is has been referred to as the "King of Jama".Reginald "Reggie Rockstone" Ossei also began to craft this art form with producers Mike Cooke, Rab Bakari, Zapp Mallet and Coal house. Chief G and the Tribe was one of the first rap groups in Ghana consisting of Chief G (now known as Jay Ghartey), Abeeku and Kwaku T performing rap as far back as 1989. After they broke up before Reggie's foray into what is now termed hiplife, Talking Drums, consisting of Kwaku-T and Bayku, experimented with choruses and hooks in local languages. In Twi, Reggie would flow over hip-hop beats, a style that had been used previously in Mahoney P's debut album Kofi Babone.
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