Hiplife
Encyclopedia
Hiplife is a Ghana
ian musical style
which fuses highlife
and hip hop
. It is also influenced by dancehall
and reggae
. Recorded in Ghanaian languages such as Twi
, Ewe
and Ga
, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom
, United States
, Canada
and Germany
.
collective in the capital Accra
Hiplife's history dates back to the early 1990s when Reginald "Reggie Rockstone" Ossei began to craft this art form with producers Mike Cooke, Rab Bakari, Zapp Mallet and Coal house.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. That same era Native Funk Lords group (NFL) came out with the pidgin rap; the originators of the genre, from the Kay's Frequency camp: Tinniequaye, Cil, Jake & Eddy Blay; this group also took inspirations from bands like the Osibisa and Ghanaba of Ghana. Reggie Rockstone has been described as the "Godfather of Hiplife" since he spawned a new music genre in the country, After his debut album Makaa Maka, with the hit single Choo boi, several hip life acts followed. Oddly enough, in several radio interviews in 2004, Reggie Rockstone stated that he does not perform hiplife this could be mainly attributed to the fact that he now prefers to rap in English.
A new era was born late 1998 when a young producer Hammer of The Last Two
emerged with original beats plus precision rap artistes. Hammer, born Edward Nana Poku Osei was only 22 years old. Hammer of The Last Two
managed to fuse hip hop grooves with local tempo and sweet melody which caught up with both the elite and masses instantly. Known for his heavy drums and lead trumpets, Hammer's originality elevated hiplife to greater heights and inspired and influenced a whole generation of producers like Richie, Kill Beats, Jayso, El etc. Hammer of The Last Two
's groomed artiste line up also eventually became some of the biggest artiste in hiplife today...eg Kwaw Kesse, Ayigbe Edem
, Obrafour, Tinny, Sarkodie etc, Other Ghanaian rappers like Lord Kenya, Obour, V.I.P, The Native Funk Lords (Rapping mainly in pidgin English), Castro Destroyer and MzBel continued the trend of hiplife music which is now one of the most popular forms of music in West Africa.
The most popular Hiplife musicians include Tic Tac, Sarkodie, Vision in Progress (VIP), Asem, Obrafour, Ayigbe Edem
, D-Black, Castro and Samini
who won a MOBO award for his contribution to hiplife in 2006. Since the rise of these popular musicians, hiplife has grown in popularity abroad.It must be said though artists like Ayigbe Edem
, Kwaw Kesse, D-plan, Richie, ASEM, , Eyz baby, Sarkodie, Yaa pono, Keps, Lil Pope, Dirgen, Bra Kevin Beats, Greenfield,Iscream.
In 2009 Ghanaian filmmaker, Mantse Aryeequaye, released a documentary focusing on the political history of the hip life movement in Ghana as well as hip-hop music amidst various political climates in the nation. In his film, Rhythm Rising, Aryeequaye also examines many famed Ghanaian artists such as Kwaw Kese, Kwaku Tutu and Obrafour through their experiences within hip life or hip-hop movement. The film works to explore and expose the culture of the hip life movement against the backdrop of Ghana's political environment.
Hip life in Ghana is sticking to a new trend of rhythm and this is mainly being influenced by great music engineers like Kill Beatz, [Dj Dijoe]http://www.reverbnation.com/barcodealive, Pie-Sie, Jay So looney, Richie, Kaywa and Hammer of The Last Two
. There is this confusion with classifying hip pop made in Ghana and Hip life but in all they bare the same qualities and share common rhythms.
-language lyrics over reggae rhythms fused with Ghanaian melodies. His music is branded by the general populace as hiplife. Then there are artists such as K.K. Fosu, Ofori Amponsah and Richie who do not rap or 'DJ' per se; but sing with a heavy R&B
influence. Verses; bridges and choruses may be in Twi, but the structure and the rhythm fusion is suspiciously based on American R&B.But he and other artiste like himself fall under contemporary highlife.
The majority of hiplife is recorded in a studio environment with heavy emphasis on computer-aided composition, arrangements and production. At this moment, hiplife artist are not known to use live instruments in their performances in front of audiences. Most performances are based on voicing over instrumentals and dubs on Compact Disc. This may be a leading reason why the latest incarnation of Ghanaian music has not reached the ears of World Music promoters or bridged the frontiers of countries across Africa such as Congolese music has done.
Famous hiplife artists include Reggie Rockstone, Kwaw Kese, Obrafour, Obour, Tinny, Asem
, Tic Tac
, Mzbel, VIP, Buk Bak
, KK Fosu, Batman Samini, jaaklan, Okomfour Kwadee, Ayigbe Edem
, Sarkodie, Okyeame Kwame, Bradez, Lord Kenya, Castro (D'Destroyer) Sydney. Producers include JQ, Appietus, Richie, Kaywa. MiD 9ite Rekordz, Hammer of The Last Two
, Roro, Zapp Mallet, Nana Quame, Hitz Factory, Big Dave, Kwam1, Panji, Beatmenace, K-Rock, Kevin Beats, Lordy and Seven and Pie-Sie.
Also to be noticed is the emergence of Gh Rap which is mainly underground hip hop made in Ghana the artists in this genre mainly rap in English or pidgin English. Most notable of the Ghanaian rappers and producers are: Tinniequaye, keps(6side records),F.F.E(D-Plan, Eyz baby, Dirgen, K-gee) The Skillions(Jayso, E.L.,Ball J, Jinx, Therapy, Midnight, J-Town,)Ecxtreme,Nash, Nova. Evil twin,Loonee, Pie-Sie (http://www.myspace.com/bestbeatsforsale), Kwam1,Nash Kevin beats, Greenfield (Ali & Jo Willy) Gemini, Kwaku-T, Kryptic, Illa Shaz,IsCream, Mic Wreckers (Lil Shaker,Joey,Killmatic), J town, N-Dex, Keps, Peer Pressure crew, Ronny O, Vibe Squad
, scientific,Big Money Records (Big Money SL,Lil' Pope) Tight Squeeze Family, Trigmatic, Wanlo, 24Seven (Lethal Lyrix and Kay-Ar {Da Mic Dude}) and more. Much of Ghanaian rappers emerged after moving from hiplife to specializing in just hip hop
.
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian musical style
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
which fuses highlife
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
and hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. It is also influenced by dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. Recorded in Ghanaian languages such as Twi
Twi
Asante, or Ashanti, is one of three literary dialects of the Akan language of southern Ghana, and the prestige dialect of that language. It is spoken in and around Kumasi, the capital of the former Ashanti Empire and current subnational Asante Kingdom within Ghana.Along with the Akuapem dialect,...
, Ewe
Ewe language
Ewe is a Niger–Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin by approximately six million people. Ewe is part of a cluster of related languages commonly called Gbe, spoken in southeastern Ghana, Togo, and parts of Benin. Other Gbe languages include Fon, Gen, Phla Phera, and Aja...
and Ga
Ga language
The Ga language is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. It has a phonemic distinction between 3 vowel lengths.-Classification:Ga is a Kwa language, part of the Niger–Congo family...
, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
History
The origins of Ghanaian hip hop goes back to the 1980s, when performers such as K.K. Kabobo and Gyedu Blay Ambolley as early as 1973 with Ambolley's release of his first record, The SIMIGWADO ...a "semi-rap style hi-life" to a small audience which showed him performing highlife variations with fast spoken, poetic lyrics. Ambolley would go on to be held the "father of rap" not only in Ghana but in the world. With time, Ghanaians became influenced by American hip hop, reggae, dance hall. There was an emerging underground hip hopUnderground hip hop
Underground hip hop is an umbrella term for hip hop music outside the general commercial canon. It is typically associated with independent artists, signed toindependent labels or no label at all....
collective in the capital Accra
Hiplife's history dates back to the early 1990s when Reginald "Reggie Rockstone" Ossei began to craft this art form with producers Mike Cooke, Rab Bakari, Zapp Mallet and Coal house.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. That same era Native Funk Lords group (NFL) came out with the pidgin rap; the originators of the genre, from the Kay's Frequency camp: Tinniequaye, Cil, Jake & Eddy Blay; this group also took inspirations from bands like the Osibisa and Ghanaba of Ghana. Reggie Rockstone has been described as the "Godfather of Hiplife" since he spawned a new music genre in the country, After his debut album Makaa Maka, with the hit single Choo boi, several hip life acts followed. Oddly enough, in several radio interviews in 2004, Reggie Rockstone stated that he does not perform hiplife this could be mainly attributed to the fact that he now prefers to rap in English.
A new era was born late 1998 when a young producer Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, tinny, Kwaw Kese,...
emerged with original beats plus precision rap artistes. Hammer, born Edward Nana Poku Osei was only 22 years old. Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, tinny, Kwaw Kese,...
managed to fuse hip hop grooves with local tempo and sweet melody which caught up with both the elite and masses instantly. Known for his heavy drums and lead trumpets, Hammer's originality elevated hiplife to greater heights and inspired and influenced a whole generation of producers like Richie, Kill Beats, Jayso, El etc. Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, tinny, Kwaw Kese,...
's groomed artiste line up also eventually became some of the biggest artiste in hiplife today...eg Kwaw Kesse, Ayigbe Edem
Ayigbe edem
Denning Edem Agbeviadey , is a Ghanaian recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Ayigbe Edem or Edem for short. Edem is his middle name and Ayigbe is a local Akan word with reference to the Ewe ethnic group that occupies most part of the Volta Region of Ghana...
, Obrafour, Tinny, Sarkodie etc, Other Ghanaian rappers like Lord Kenya, Obour, V.I.P, The Native Funk Lords (Rapping mainly in pidgin English), Castro Destroyer and MzBel continued the trend of hiplife music which is now one of the most popular forms of music in West Africa.
The most popular Hiplife musicians include Tic Tac, Sarkodie, Vision in Progress (VIP), Asem, Obrafour, Ayigbe Edem
Ayigbe edem
Denning Edem Agbeviadey , is a Ghanaian recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Ayigbe Edem or Edem for short. Edem is his middle name and Ayigbe is a local Akan word with reference to the Ewe ethnic group that occupies most part of the Volta Region of Ghana...
, D-Black, Castro and Samini
Samini
Emmanuel Andrews Samini , known in show business as Samini , is a musical artist....
who won a MOBO award for his contribution to hiplife in 2006. Since the rise of these popular musicians, hiplife has grown in popularity abroad.It must be said though artists like Ayigbe Edem
Ayigbe edem
Denning Edem Agbeviadey , is a Ghanaian recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Ayigbe Edem or Edem for short. Edem is his middle name and Ayigbe is a local Akan word with reference to the Ewe ethnic group that occupies most part of the Volta Region of Ghana...
, Kwaw Kesse, D-plan, Richie, ASEM, , Eyz baby, Sarkodie, Yaa pono, Keps, Lil Pope, Dirgen, Bra Kevin Beats, Greenfield,Iscream.
In 2009 Ghanaian filmmaker, Mantse Aryeequaye, released a documentary focusing on the political history of the hip life movement in Ghana as well as hip-hop music amidst various political climates in the nation. In his film, Rhythm Rising, Aryeequaye also examines many famed Ghanaian artists such as Kwaw Kese, Kwaku Tutu and Obrafour through their experiences within hip life or hip-hop movement. The film works to explore and expose the culture of the hip life movement against the backdrop of Ghana's political environment.
Hip life in Ghana is sticking to a new trend of rhythm and this is mainly being influenced by great music engineers like Kill Beatz, [Dj Dijoe]http://www.reverbnation.com/barcodealive, Pie-Sie, Jay So looney, Richie, Kaywa and Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, tinny, Kwaw Kese,...
. There is this confusion with classifying hip pop made in Ghana and Hip life but in all they bare the same qualities and share common rhythms.
Musical style
It must be noted that hiplife can cover a broad range of musical styles fused together. Artists such as Samini combine reggae/dancehall/ragga scat and patois-tinged sounds of Jamaica with AkanAkan language
Akan, also known as Twi and Fante, is an Akan language that is the principal native language of Ghana, spoken over much of the southern half of that country, by about 52% of the population, and to a lesser extent across the border in eastern Côte d'Ivoire...
-language lyrics over reggae rhythms fused with Ghanaian melodies. His music is branded by the general populace as hiplife. Then there are artists such as K.K. Fosu, Ofori Amponsah and Richie who do not rap or 'DJ' per se; but sing with a heavy R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
influence. Verses; bridges and choruses may be in Twi, but the structure and the rhythm fusion is suspiciously based on American R&B.But he and other artiste like himself fall under contemporary highlife.
The majority of hiplife is recorded in a studio environment with heavy emphasis on computer-aided composition, arrangements and production. At this moment, hiplife artist are not known to use live instruments in their performances in front of audiences. Most performances are based on voicing over instrumentals and dubs on Compact Disc. This may be a leading reason why the latest incarnation of Ghanaian music has not reached the ears of World Music promoters or bridged the frontiers of countries across Africa such as Congolese music has done.
Famous hiplife artists include Reggie Rockstone, Kwaw Kese, Obrafour, Obour, Tinny, Asem
Asem
Asem is a male given name of Arabic origin, which means "protector, guardian, defender".-Given name:*Asim Abdulrahman, Egyptian militant*Asım Akin, Turkish physician...
, Tic Tac
Tic Tac (musician)
Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah aka Tic Tac is an award-winning hiplife musician originally from Kwamo, a suburb in the Ashanti Region in Ghana.-Career:...
, Mzbel, VIP, Buk Bak
Buk Bak
Buk Bak is a Ghanaian musical duo composed of Prince Bright aka Bling Sparkles and Ronnie Coches. They rap in Ga, Twi, and Pidgin, and were the first hiplife group in Ghana to be successful with Ga lyrics....
, KK Fosu, Batman Samini, jaaklan, Okomfour Kwadee, Ayigbe Edem
Ayigbe edem
Denning Edem Agbeviadey , is a Ghanaian recording artist and entertainer who performs under the name Ayigbe Edem or Edem for short. Edem is his middle name and Ayigbe is a local Akan word with reference to the Ewe ethnic group that occupies most part of the Volta Region of Ghana...
, Sarkodie, Okyeame Kwame, Bradez, Lord Kenya, Castro (D'Destroyer) Sydney. Producers include JQ, Appietus, Richie, Kaywa. MiD 9ite Rekordz, Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two
Hammer of The Last Two, born Edward Nana Poku Osei is a record producer in the Ghanaian music industry. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and is also known for grooming some of the best artists Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife has ever produced such as Obrafour, tinny, Kwaw Kese,...
, Roro, Zapp Mallet, Nana Quame, Hitz Factory, Big Dave, Kwam1, Panji, Beatmenace, K-Rock, Kevin Beats, Lordy and Seven and Pie-Sie.
Also to be noticed is the emergence of Gh Rap which is mainly underground hip hop made in Ghana the artists in this genre mainly rap in English or pidgin English. Most notable of the Ghanaian rappers and producers are: Tinniequaye, keps(6side records),F.F.E(D-Plan, Eyz baby, Dirgen, K-gee) The Skillions(Jayso, E.L.,Ball J, Jinx, Therapy, Midnight, J-Town,)Ecxtreme,Nash, Nova. Evil twin,Loonee, Pie-Sie (http://www.myspace.com/bestbeatsforsale), Kwam1,Nash Kevin beats, Greenfield (Ali & Jo Willy) Gemini, Kwaku-T, Kryptic, Illa Shaz,IsCream, Mic Wreckers (Lil Shaker,Joey,Killmatic), J town, N-Dex, Keps, Peer Pressure crew, Ronny O, Vibe Squad
Vibe Squad
Vibe Squad is an African pop group formed in 2005. The group's original lineup comprised Derrick Abaitey, Kevin Amoako, William Osei- Obengo, Richard Korede and Bright Oduro . The group has both Ghanaians and Nigerians in one band...
, scientific,Big Money Records (Big Money SL,Lil' Pope) Tight Squeeze Family, Trigmatic, Wanlo, 24Seven (Lethal Lyrix and Kay-Ar {Da Mic Dude}) and more. Much of Ghanaian rappers emerged after moving from hiplife to specializing in just hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
.
External links
- Hiplife content - songs, lyrics, audio, video, etc.
- Living The HipLife -Documentary on the early years of Hiplife in Ghana with focus on Reggie Rockstone
- Hiplife story
- ghanatimes.com article: "Hiplife: A New Dawn; A New Day"
- ghanatimes.com article: "Hiplife Music Is Noise"
- ghanaweb.com article: "The HIPLIFE story"
- Honors Thesis on Hip-Life and Ga Drumming