7 top musicians who have changed the Ghanaian music scene in the last 25 years
There is no doubt that the Ghanaian music scene had been one of the most vibrant across Africa for a very long time before now.
The emergence of Hiplife, a fusion of rap and Ghana's evergreen Highlife music genre, has also helped to sustain the popularity of Ghana music.
Within the 25, the music scene has had gone through many phases and churned out many artistes.
While all of these artistes have contributed in their own ways to the development of the music scene, a few of them have been very explosive and have had so much impact on the industry.
YEN.com.gh has put together a list of such Ghanaian musicians who have revolutionized the music scene within the last two and a half decades.
1. Reggie Rockstone:
Rockstone pioneered the Hiplife movement somewhere in 1994 and went ahead to release the first-ever Hiplife album, 'Makaa Maka'.
Though there has always been the argument that rappers existed in Ghana before Rockstone came back from the UK, he was the one who properly branded it and made it catchy.
Without him, there would have been no Hiplife and without Hiplife, the Ghanaian music scene would not have been as it is today.
Aptly nicknamed as the 'Hiplife Grandpapa', he is definitely a music revolutionary no matter what anybody says.
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2. VIP/Buk Bak:
In the early days of Hiplife, it was all about Twi. It is not known if it was because Rockstone himself was a Twi rapper.
But it took these groups VIP (now VVIP) and the defunct Buk Bak to show us that one can rap in other languages successfully.
While VIP released 'Rana Sallah', a song largely sung in Hausa, from the first album 'Biibi Ba Oo' in 1998, Buk Bak did it in Ga on 'Komi Kἐ Kena' also released in 1998.
It was these songs that ensured that later artistes like Tinny, Shilo, and Edem, among others, survived in the Twi-dominated field.
3. Abrewa Nana:
Currently, they are as many female musicians as there are males. But it has not always been so.
In the early late 90s and early 2000s, there were a very few females doing secular music and doing rap (Hiplife) was quite unheard.
But Abrewa Nana blazed a trail when she released her 'Sagaa' album in 2000 which featured the hit track 'Odo Filla'.
She was not an also ran as she won some awards at the Ghana Music Awards the following year.
Actually, she is the is the female Rockstone.
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4. Terry Bonchaka:
Bonchaka's whole music career lasted for only about two years but is still very popular almost 15 years after he passed away.
Bonchaka died in an accident in the early hours of October 30, 2003, aged 21. His car hit a tree on the Madina-Legon road. He was returning from a musical concert he headlined at the University of Ghana campus.
But he had already had a huge impact on the music scene with his unique stagecraft, style of music and fashion sense.
Bonchaka would have definitely the taken the title of father of Dancehall music in Ghana. It is no wonder that his protege, Shatta Wale (Bandana at the time) is flying the Dancehall flag.
5. Richie Mensah:
The Lynx Entertainment boss is a musician, music producer, and artiste manager.
While his music career is not so much exceptional, his work as a producer revolutionized the scene.
Hiplife (rap music) had been dominant since Rockstone started, Richie's creation of the crunk music was phenomenal.
It gave birth to hardcore rappers getting mainstream success. Though Hammer and his Last 2 had been around, Riche's creation ensured that not only danceable rap music became hits.
Talk of Asem's 'Gimme Blow', Okyeame Kwame's 'Woso', Praye's 'Wohoyefe', and many more.
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6. Shatta Wale:
The story of how Bandana, rose from the ashes like Phoenix and rose to become Shatta Wale is known to many people.
After getting a nationwide hit with his 'Moko Hoo' in 2003, he went into the doldrums and it took 10 whole years for him to bounce back.
He came back as Dancehall artiste and he has not looked back since.
He has defied all conventional ways an artiste is expected to behave but has still achieved relatively more success than any other artiste during his comeback.
There is no doubt that he has one of the staunchest following for any musician around the world and his style of marketing may soon be emulated by others.
7. Honourable mentions:
Okomfour Kwaadee, Samini, Ebony Stonebwoy, and Sarkodie
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Source: YEN.com.gh
