Rap Around the Clock

Back in the early 20th century, so the story goes, when Britain was busy colonising the Gold Coast, the people had their own name for the elaborate balls, banquets and dances frequented by British officials and their guests.

The expats would swap their pith helmets, long socks and khaki shorts for formal dress then party. The locals, part longingly, part scornfully described the shindigs as the "highlife".

This is how the term was coined and how the popular big band Ghanaian dance rhythm, highlife, got its name. Fifty years on - 43 after independence - highlife remains the pop music of Ghana. But a new musical wave, called hip-life, is sweeping the country. The "hip" is from hip hop (Contemporary American urban music) and the "life" from highlife. The new genre is a hit with young Ghanaians and, increasingly, with older generations.

Young singers and songwriters blend the highlife beat with hip-hop rap, but drop the American-English lyrics. This new formula, rapping in Akan and other local languages, is the secret of hip-life's appeal.

K.K. Dua, a music producer and promoter, says initially some adults opposed hip-life, fearing it would lead their children astray. Those fears proved groundless, he says, insisting: "The youth have not abandoned school for music. These young musicians are playing their music and studying at the same time." Moreover, hip-life role models, such as Reggie "Rockstone" Ossei, prove that it can be a respectable career.

Rockstone raps in Twi, others in Ewe, Hausa and even pidgin English. "It is hip and it's happening," says Rockstone, whose concerts draw huge crowds.

Hip-life is a purely Ghanaian creation that has caught on because it talks directly to the people, in languages everyone understands and with nuances and clever lyrics that make Ghanaians laugh. "And we can rap in English too," he smiles.
The artist, who is in his thirties, believes that young Ghanaians, who were listening to seductive American hip hop, felt alienated by traditional highlife music and wanted their own sound.

Obrafo is known for his poetic lyrics
and ability to rhyme in polished Twi

Reggie Rockstone was born in Britain and brought up in Ghana, later leaving to study in the United States. Ghanaians were a little scared to move away from highlife, says Rockstone. Its "big boy" performers, as he calls them, were afraid to lose their audiences. Many big name highlife entertainers, such as George Darko and A.B. Crentsil, saw hip-life as a threat that could undermine their style. But their image did not fit the new face of Ghanaian music.

"The youth were hungry for music they could identify with," Rockstone says. The Ghanaian rapper wears his hair in dreadlocks and dresses in baggy trousers and oversize T-shirts, à la "fly boy" culture adopted by many young blacks across the US, including their rap heroes.

"Highlife musicians have finally understood that they need to step up their beat and make it more international, like hip-lifers," Rockstone says.

The Ghanaianisation of hip-life, with African instruments and live "natural" electric guitars, rather than computerised or synthesised rhythms while maintaining a strong disco beat, is a winner, adds K.K. Dua. The themes running through hip-life are varied. Rockstone raps through social messages - ranging from how tough it is for Ghanaians to get visas to go to Europe and North America to the difficult, and often precarious, lives of Africans living abroad. He also warns his listeners against Aids and teenage pregnancies.

He raps up tempo on Ma Ka Ma Ka (If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times) and Me Na Me Kae (Yes, I'm the one who said it). There are cool slow numbers, such as Nightlife in Accra and catchy hits include Sweetie Sweetie.

Another popular artist, Obrafo, is known for the poetry of his lyrics and his ability to rhyme in polished Twi. Unlike most local rappers, Obrafo delivers his rap slowly, so every word can be understood. K.K. Dua, whose record company Kays Frequency promotes hip-life artists including the Native Funk Lords and Ded Buddy, says the highlife hip-hop fusion has pumped up Ghanaian music.

He acknowledges that hip-life targets mainly the youth, with radio and television adverts full of fast-talking, hip young guys with a bit of an (American) accent, known in Ghana as LAFA (locally acquired foreign accent).

But the music also has wider appeal. "Older people are buying hip-life cassettes, which has upped sales in Ghana," says Dua. He describes the atmosphere at live hip-life venues as "electric, terrific".

People go wild and have a good time, rapping along with the artists and joining in the chorus.

Dua says hip-life is here to stay. It is a sound that is well packaged and will travel, even though it has yet to make a real impact outside Ghana.

In the five years since it was born, hip-life has matured and gained considerable commercial support, airplay and positive publicity.

A party in Ghana is no party without the requisite hip-life hits that bring everyone to the dance floor. Artists are recording cassettes, CDs and music videos that are reaching audiences not just in Ghana, but in Britain, Denmark, Germany, Holland and the United States - all homes to expatriate Ghanaian communities.

K.K. Dua is satisfied that hip-life has brought more quality into music.

"People now talk about and appreciate Ghanaian music much more," he adds.

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON

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