Hiplife is a music genre birthed in Ghana, in the early 90’s from a fusion of American hip hop and Ghanaian highlife music. Hiplife emerged from Jamaican ragga and U.S hip hop. Hiplife is formed from the merging of Highlife and Hip hop with its founder being Reggie Rockstone( originally Reginald Yaw Asante).

Who is the grandfather of Hiplife?

For over two decades now, Reggie Rockstone has been behind the beats and inspiration for many Ghanaian club Hitz today. We are introduced to a man with such great momentum ad tenacity, with tons of inspirations and motivations seeking to change the world around him. That celebrated megastar who remains a beacon of hope to influence the world around him, and still remains an illuminant of hope to all youngsters seeking to reach their full potential in this musical artistry is none other than Reggie Rockstone

Reggie Rockstone, is regarded the grandfather of hiplife. He is an inspirational and talented Ghanaian rapper who was born in the United Kingdom but lived his early years in Kumasi and Accra, places which are both cities in Ghana. Reggie was born on 11, April, 1964 to Mr. Ricky Osei , a fashion designer who played his role in enrolling his son in one of the best schools in the country, Achimota Senior High School. He was signed to the record label, Kassa records and is a rapper, an entrepreneur as well as a producer.He is married to Dr. Zilla Limann, daughter of Dr. Hilla Limann, the only president of the third republic of Ghana. They have been married since 2001.

He pioneered the hiplife art in 1994, and has since played an important role in the development of this unique African genre. He was noted for rapping in Akan, precisely Asante Twi and English. In 2004, he won the Kora Award for the best African video and performed in front of a 50,000-person crowd in Ghana. In 2006, he recorded a track with the Jamaican Dancehall singer, Bennie Man. He released a song called Chukku Chakka(in reference to Rockstone’s 1999 hit ‘EYE MO DE ANAA’ .

Reggie moved into music via dancing from a musically inclined home, where he was involved in martial arts and further dancing. According to him moving into music was an extempore . He made a deision to blend hip hop with a style of production and unequally African Cadence of lyricism and dialect , . He began a whole genre of music that was introduced as hiplife which became a modern cousin of highlife and was characterised by its deference to the past, with melodic structures rooted in Traaditional Akan Music.

What differentiates hiplife and highlife?

What puts hiplife and highlife on different benches is that, hiplife is basically hip hop that incorporates elements of highlife with lyrics in the local dialect.

The Most Succesful Hiplife Artist?

The most succesful hiplife artist is undoubtedly, Sarkodie. He is infamous for his contemporary hiplife rapstyle which combines English and indigenous languages from Ghana, earning him the title that is crowned on him. Michael Owusu Addo, better known by his stage name as Sarkodie, is a Ghanaian rapper , songwriter and an entrepreneur who hails from Tema. He started rapping at an early age and has since been noted as a house hold name in this industry.

Hip life musicians include Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, R2Bees, Daddy Lumba, TicTac, Efya, Ofori Amponsah, Obrafour, Kojo Antwi, Vision In Progress(VIP), Mzbel, Obrafour and many others.