Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, a.k.a Reggie Rockstone is a household name and the backbone of Ghana Music Industry. His contributions made towards Ghana music is highly commendable for it has become beneficial to artiste and music enthusiasts. His craft gave birth to the sound of good music (rap music) we vibe within Ghana.
Ghanaian music history is not complete without including the originator of “Rap” and “Hiplife”. Many are those who do not agree to the assertion that he invented the whole concept, the likes of Panji Anorff have debunked the claim, others believe it’s Zapp Mallet but on record, Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, a.k.a Reggie Rockstone popularised the movement and has put the country on top today.
Aside being challenged as not being the inventor of the genre, Shatta Wale believes that the Kumasi based born dancer, rapper and lyricist hasn’t made any impact with hiplife in Ghana. With his lyrical prowess so high, how can Yaw Asante not make any impact?… Well, here are the list of impact made by the Grandpapa in hiplife
1. Hiplife produced the biggest artiste in Ghana (Sarkodie)
Michael Owusu Addo, professionally known as Sarkodie, is a rapper and entrepreneur from Tema. Rap music, has earned him numerous accolades both local and international. At the last Ghana music award show, he was adjuged the Artiste of the Decade. He is a multifaceted rapper and one of Africa’s best rap artiste. He is 2 time BET Award Winner, 2 time Headies Award Winner. He has been featured on FORBES, THE GUARDIAN among other international platforms.
2. In 2004, Reggie Rockstone won the Kora Award for the best African video and he performed in front of a 50,000-person crowd in Ghana, together with popular jamaican dancehall artiste, Shaggy
3. In 2006, Reggie Rockstone gained his international collaboration with the King Of African dancehall, Beenie Man on his record “Chukku Chakka” song. This put Ghana on the map.
4. Hiplife is the biggest oriented movement in Ghana. Unlike Dancehall in Ghana which has 2 main headliners ( Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale ), hiplife has given birth to many artiste which many have retired but are still a force to reckon with should they pick up a mic. The likes of Obrafuor, Lord Kenya, Black Prophet, to present day Sarkodie, Medikal, Kwesi Arthur, Manifest etc are product of hiplife.
5. Hiplife has sold Ghana than Dancehall music made in Ghana. Undoubtedly, hiplife has seen more success than dancehall. With the influx of many rappers such as Kwesi Arthur and Sarkodie who represented Ghana at BET, the likes of Manifest going on world tour and connecting Ghana and Africa, it’s safe to say that hiplife and rap has great impact in Ghana and beyond.
SOURCE: www.Ghgossip.com