• View all from Kwaw Kese
  Album Odiem
  Artistes Kwaw Kese, Professor Jay
  Language Twi, Swahili
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpObZShJcbw
  Writer Emmanuel Abrompah Botchwey, Joseph Haule
  Year 2008

My Contribution to the Best Sound Engineer in Ghana debate.

I must admit that it hasn't been easy trying to pronounce one top notch sound engineer as the best among all. I'm sure if you guys take away your personal biases, you'll probably feel the same way i feel. My all time best will probably be Jay Q because i happen to like several tracks he has produced as my all time favourites. In other words, you guys probably share the same sentiments about the sound engineer you chose as your all time best probably because there are several tracks they have produced that fancy you most but not necessarily the best among all.

What i have observed among all the sound engineers after studying all their tunes for a while is, they are all very well vested with variety of tunes, but all fall victims to the easy temptation of recycling same rhythm. Bare with me for minute and you'll prabably grasp my gist here.

Museke.com caught Hiplife legend Reggie Rockstone at the tail end of his trip to America and asked him a few questions. Below is the transcript of the interview.

Museke.com: How be Chale?
Rockstone: I’m fine.

Museke.com: How have you liked your trip to the US so far?
Rockstone: (It’s been) interesting. I have been privileged to travel and meet people all over the world, especially Ghanaians. The reaction from my people is always interesting. I document almost all of my travels, I will eventually turn them into a documentary. I have footage from everywhere in the world; conversations, reactions, etc. I carry a camcorder almost everywhere. I’ve eaten different kinds of food, it’s a different kind of environment.

Museke.com: Can you tell us about your background and family?
Rockstone: My father, who I call one of my best friends, was Ricky (Ricci) Osei, a legendary fashion designer. I grew up in a very artistic background. I was in a musical house and was not discouraged from the arts. I was known for my break dance skills, and I went to drama school for acting. I was a two-time junior taekwondo champion in Ghana. I have about four faces of Reggie – Ricky’s son, the martial artist, the dancer, the musician. I grew up all over the world, and am still growing up. I was born in England, grew up in New York, Accra, Little Rock (Arkansas), Kumasi, etc.

INTRODUCTION
Greetings – Thank you for inviting me.

Hiplife is a variant of the prototype hip-hop just as Kwaito, Graffiti, Spoken word, Urban fashion, DJ-ing among others.
Since Run DMC and Aerosmith blew our minds some 20 years ago, hip-hop has been the only global culture which is spreading without the use of force under the whip.

Hip-hop has created millionaire beat makers, record companies, marketeers, rappers, designers and in fact has employed more black youth than any other industry in the world. Oh just an exaggeration!!
Hip-hop rap is about 25 to 30 years whiles hip-life is about 15 years. Therefore, obviously, hiplife is a derivative of hip-hop.

Amanfuor! I hope i'm not the only dude on this forum seeing this trend of Crunk music infiltrating our favourite hiplife genre. Let me first admit the fact that i'm really impressed with the quality of crunk they are putting out so far. If anybody has been following my postings, they will come to a realization that i'm not a big fun of hiphop let alone crunk hiphop. Not to say i never liked hiphop before but i changed with maturity, that's all. All the same, i like to give credit where it's due. Below are some of the Crunk hiplife music i have watched on either Ghanamusic.com or youtube which i think deserves some recognition.

Okyeame Kwame, The Rap Doctor-"Woso Rmx"
The latest one i just watched which i must admit prompted me to get off my bed and start writing this article is that of our own respected hiplife artist, Okyeame Kwame, the Rap Doctor. I was more impressed with the content of the song itself and a little credit to Okyeame kwame for his delivery of flow. Features Richie. Check out the link for the video

• View all from Scorpy
  Album Natural love
  Artistes Scorpy, Castro Destroyer, Obofour, Kassandra
  Language Twi, English
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ASpvlaDfQ
  Writer Abubakar Issah
  Year 2008

• View all from Okyeame Kwame
  Album M'awensem
  Artistes Okyeame Kwame, Richie
  Language Twi, English
  Runtime 4:54
  Track # 11
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLe5UQWa1sE
  Writer Quame Nsiah Appau
  Year 2008

• View all from Lord Kenya
  Album God dey
  Artistes Lord Kenya, Kofi Nti
  Language Twi
  Runtime 5:12
  Track # 1
  Writer Abraham Kojo Akpor
  Year 2008

Do you remember the track Girlz Girlz? The song received massive airplay in late 2003 and it came as an answer to Okomfour Kwaadee's Boyz Boyz. Girls Girls introduced Triple M, made up of Mildred Mark-Hansen, Mercy Quarshie and Monica Tawiah, to the Ghanaian music scene. They were the first female hiplife group, even though they initially started out by singing gospel music in 1995. They never released a gospel album though. Another of their hit singles was Koti, a song about policemen who beat an irresponsible husband while his wife pleads for mercy. After the Koti album, they featured on Jay Q's Compilation, where they delivered one of 2003's biggest hits, Driver, which was the female version of Castro's Sradenam. Their sophomore debut was called 3+1=? (yes, you read that right). And then Mercy went solo, and we didn't hear much about the group. Museke.com brings you a quick update.

• View all from Obour
  Album President Obour
  Artistes Obour
  Language Twi, English
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFwoK-SvN-g
  Writer Bice Osei Kuffour
  Year 2008