African Hip Hop - Ghana

Ghana

Ghanaian hip hop is the origin of hip life, a combination of hip hop music and highlife. The Ghanaian music scene has also produced a number of rappers and DJs who are both locally and internationally renowned. Ghanaian rapping is mostly in the English language, but is also sometimes in Twi, Ewe, Ga or Hausa. Artistes include Reggie Rockstone, Kae Sun, Sway DeSafo, Samini, Okyeame Kwame, Bradez, Buk Bak, D-Black, Sarkodie, Tic Tac, Obrafour, 4x4, Kwaw Kese, VIP, Ayigbe Edem, Tinny, Castro Destroyer, Mzbel and upcoming artists including Lil Shaker, N-Dex, Yaa Pono, Kursa, Loone, and Sarkodie. Though in the recent years there has been an upsurge of true HipHop music on the Ghanaian music scene. Seeing artistes like C-real, J-town, E.L., JaySo and many others take on the genre with grace and finesse that at times challenges the western rappers. Also with the rise of these artistes from the undergrowth of Hip-life comes the awareness that follows. BET, Channel O and MTV Base have all had a taste of the HipHop talent from Ghana and it is without a doubt a growing industry. At times it is often hard to differentiate between artistes from Ghana and artistes from Brooklyn NY. Their skill and lyricism are not to be underrated. C-real hailed from the Gold-Coast as champion of the most recent Sprite Channel O Emcee Africa contest. Winning in his home town and placing second on the continental stage. His predecessor J-town boast an identical achievement as he also won the contest in Ghana and placed second on in the continental stage. Foreign artistes such as Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes have graced the streets of Ghana in recent times.