Hip-Life Apparel as a clothing brand was founded in 2020 in fulfilment of an idea that had been ruminating in the minds of its founders: “To provide affordable high quality clothing items to the young and young at heart.” However, the word Hip-Life itself was coined in the mid-1990s in Accra, Ghana by Reggie Rockstone as a vehicle to communicate his attempts at incorporating rap into local music genres in a way that will gain acceptance by the masses. In retrospect, it could be said that he has been successful in that regard.
Hip-life is a music genre originating from Ghana, West Africa, forged from the merger of two distinct music genres: highlife and hip-hop music (rap music). As a genre, its origins have been mired with uncertainty. However, it is widely accepted that the term was coined by legendary rapper and entrepreneur Reggie Rockstone. The history of hiplife is spangled with other popular Ghanaian names such as songwriter Panji Anoff who has in the past expressed disagreement with the widely accepted origins of the genre. This disagreement came to a fever pitch in an all too public exchange between Rockstone and Anoff in a 2015 interview on GhOne Tv Station in Ghana and on twitter on April 1st, 2020.
Reggie Rockstone, whose real name is Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, was born in the United Kingdom on April 11th, 1964. He however lived his early years in Ghana. Son of a fashion designer, Reggie travelled between Accra, New York, and London. His travels afforded him the opportunity to familiarize himself with the hip-hop movement of the time. His foray into the movement began as a dancer. However, in 1992 he switched to rapping, joining the PLZ (Parables, linguistics and Zlang) rap group, a well-known rap group in London, England. In 1994, Reggie returned to Ghana to participate in Panafest ‘94. The event opened his eyes to the vast potential of music originating from Africa and Ghana in particular. In his words, he recognized similarities between rap music in the West and rap (locally called Panafest, an event organized in Ghana biennially to serve as a “cultural vehicle for bringing Africans on the continent and in the diaspora together around the issues raised by slavery which remain prevalent”. Little did the organizers know that this event will be the crucible to spark an interest in Rockstone to merge genres. Rockstone had such a great time in Ghana, he decided to stay and explore his opportunities.
After Reggie’s decision to stay in Ghana, following his performance in Panafest ‘94, his father built him a studio and personally sponsored all the videos that were shot to support Reggie’s music. This sponsorship coupled with Reggie’s undeniable talent led to the release of classics such as “Tsooboi” in which the word “hip-life” was used for the first time. The name hip-life, according to Reggie was coined by himself with the help of his father who was a fierce supporter of African culture, values, and Pan-Africanism. The introduction of the word “hip-life” was initially not well received and supported. This did not deter Reggie but stuck to his guns for several years. Along the line, he recruited the help of other musicians and music producers who he calls “the big six”. They helped him make hip-life a household genre.
Back in New York and London in the 1980s and early 1990s, Rockstone had expressed a keen interest in music and the arts, beginning as a dancer then joining PLZ, a burgeoning rap group at that time. Growing up with a Ghanaian mother, he had learnt to speak Twi, a Ghanaian language primarily spoken by the Ashanti tribe. This skill helped shape his thinking and gave him a unique standpoint; one that appreciated both the hip hop style and Ghanaian culture and language. Prior to Rockstone’s arrival in Ghana, there existed a music style which many argue is what hip-life was adopted from. This style, named “Highlife”, formerly known as palm-wine music, was initially mostly propagated with traditional Ghanaian instruments such as the castanet, drums (congas) and later incorporated modern instruments such as the bass and lead guitars, the classic drum set and the saxophone. The rhythmic sound from these instruments was famous for influencing the well-known Afro rock band Osibisa, which was founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate Ghanaian and Caribbean musicians. Their name, Osibisa was coined from the Fanti word for highlife, “Osibisaba”. The leader of the band, Teddy Osei, started in Ghana in a band called Star Gazers, then later formed the Comets Band with his brother Mac Tontoh. In 1969, after moving to London to study music on a scholarship from the Ghanaian government, he persuaded Amarfio and Tontoh from the Comets to join him in London to form Osibisa. This band has survived decades of changing music tastes across the world and still perform in concerts around the world to this day.
In 1980, Dr Mrs. Efua Sutherland proposed the introduction of a Pan-African historical theatre festival in Ghana, a means to bring together Africans in different parts of the world. The festival, dubbed “Panafest”, was first held in Cape Coast, Elmina and Accra from the 12th to the 19th of December 1992, four years before the death of Sutherland. Little did the organizers know that this festival will be the melting pot of ideas to catalyze the formation of the hip-life genre. The second edition of Panafest, Panafest ‘94, saw the participation of over 4000 international participants and artists. Co-chairman of Panafest ‘94 and world-renowned musician, Stevie Wonder was the leading artiste that year.
Prior to the invention of hip-life music by Reggie Rockstone, rap as was known at that time was not entirely new to Ghana. The introduction of rap into Ghanaian music can be attributed to Gyedu Blay-Ambolley. He is noted for pioneering the highlife genre and inventing another predecessor to hiplife; “Simigwa” in his seminal album “Simigwa-Do” released in 1973. This genre incorporated various rap forms into highlife. Keen readers will note that this is precisely what Reggie hoped to achieve with the new hip-life genre. Thus, Ambolley is known as the originator of twi rap hip-life, the amalgamation of hiphop and highlife. Of course, hip-life as a word did not exist till being coined by Reggie after 1994. Whilst Reggie is known as the “Godfather of hip-life”, it is fair to recognize the efforts played by Ambolley in the fusion of hip hop and rap art forms to Ghanaian and West African highlife. The name, Simigwa did not hold possibly due to unfortunate timing and the lack of universal appeal of rap in Ghana in the 70s and 80s as hip hop as a music style was entirely new at that time. Other pioneers of twi rap (currently known as hip-life) include Mahoney P, a Ghanaian based in the Netherlands whose 1994 album “Ebe ye yie” was based on twi rap. However, he called these attempts at merging highlife and hip hop “Highlife in Gangsterdam” an allusion to Amsterdam, where he lived at that time.
Hiplife, as we know it, has seen several generations, each generation marked by differences in sounds and a group of artistes who have pioneered that sound. Over the years, one generation of hip-life has stood out and received worldwide recognition as a uniquely Ghanaian style and that is Azonto. This style began around 2006 and was made popular as it was go-to genre for senior high school students in Ghana at that time. Artistes like Stay Jay and EL came to the limelight as they released songs that fit this style and were all the rave. Boarding schools are quite popular in Ghana and Saturday nights are usually reserved for entertainment. These times proved to be the pressure cooker that facilitated the spread and wide adoption of azonto as students from these institutions moved on to universities and other tertiary institutions. Also, the inclusion of various dance routines to popular releases such as “Yenko nkoaa” and “U go kill me” by Stay Jay, Sarkodie and EL respectively, helped cement the appeal.
There was a move in April 2020 to revive azonto music after what seemed like a lull in the sub-genre. This move was spearheaded by Ghanaian artistes EL and Sarkodie with their song “Revival”. This saw the trending of the hashtag #BringBackAzonto and #FaHookiMe on Ghanaian twitter. Other artistes yearning to get on the revival craze promptly released tunes to support the movement. Gasmilla, who calls himself the King of Azonto, released his hit song “Keke” which received a lacklustre reception. This could be attributed to reviews describing the song as rushed and undercooked.
Hip-life has been around for about 25 years and it is fair to say that the experiment to merge the 2 genres of hip hop and highlife has been widely successful. There is a marked difference between music released by Praye and Sarkodie even though they are both hip-life artistes. Hip-life is downstream of hip hop thus the changing styles of hip hop from the likes of Tupac to Migos will inadvertently result in changes in music styles that reference hip hop rap styles. With the international acceptance of afrobeat (mostly Nigerian and Ghanaian music), it can be predicted that hip-life is here to stay and serves as a veritable store of Ghanaian culture and heritage.
Prior to the introduction of hip-life, those who had a say in the direction and overall feel of Ghanaian music primarily excluded the youth. This trend was reversed with the advent of Hip-life music. In that same vein, Hip-life apparel seeks to appeal primarily to the youth and individuals who are young at heart and to hopefully start a revolution that seeks to dissociate high-end clothing from the exorbitant prices they usually command.
"The apparel oft proclaims the man" - William Shakespeare
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