Hiplife music, according to Ghanaian rapper Edward Kofi Agyemang Amoah, better known by his stage name Kofi Mole, is no longer a popular genre in the music industry.
Hiplife is an American hip-hop musical genre that incorporates Ghanaian culture. It is credited to Reggie Rockstone, Ghana’s hip-life “Grand Papa,” and other Ghanaian performers have utilized it as their claim to fame.
According to the young rapper, hiplife in Ghana has declined from its earlier popularity due to a lack of active hiplife performers in the music industry. He went on to remark that as Ghanaian rap evolved and changed, hiplife gave way to more American-style hip-hop.
He said, “I don’t know; maybe it’s because we don’t currently have artists who mention hiplife in their music, unlike Reggie Rockstone who consistently mentioned hiplife in his music.
In an interview with HypeMan Ferggy on Y97.9FM’s Friday Night Mix, he argued that the growth of the internet enhanced awareness of rap music and hip-hop culture, exposing many young Ghanaian rappers to it. As a result, hip-hop gradually displaced hip-life in Ghana.
He emphasized that the young people that came up now tried to vibe with hip-hop culture, specifically hip-hop culture from America. “When the internet season started, we got so exposed to hip-hop and outside and the music outside of Ghana; their culture and everything,” he remarked.
Despite the fact that both hiplife and hip-hop are rap genres, the “Don’t Be Late” singer noted that hip-hop is only growing in Ghana since there are more musicians in the music business today who represent hip-hop music and combine aspects of Ghanaian culture.
