VIP featured in Source Magazine and talks about hiplife

Ghana’s hip life genre emerges as the country’s soundtrack as it heads towards its 54th anniversary of independence.

As hip hop was embraced worldwide and the local populations overseas started putting their own version of music derived of hip hop out for people to hear, these new genres started taking off. Hip Life from Ghana is an example of such genre. Hashim H who manages the group V.I.P. said the messages of hip hop and hip life are the same.

“It is obvious that most of the prolific talented voices come from the have not’s said Hashim H. You can see this from the ghettos of South Africa to Brooklyn, New York. The poor usually speak from their hearts and have a way from creating something from nothing.” HomeGrown: Hip Life in Ghana released this year is a documentary film about the group V.I.P. which follows their journey from the ghettos of Accra to their first international tour.

Hip Life as it stands now has been confined to Ghana but slowly has been inching its way towards the mainstream with the diversity of its acts from Wanlov the Kubolor, who is more of a conscious artist to V.I.P., a group comparable to WuTang and Kwaku T, who is more of a flashy rapper comparable to Diddy. The genre has also been viable enough for artists to tour internationally like Wanlov. “Touring has been amazing, it further affirmed my belief that just as U.S. slang and Patois is welcomed the world over so can Pidgen English” says Wanlov.

However Hashim described the international touring experience as interesting because of the reception you get.” Some responses are ignorant and some open minded” says Hashim. To think that people know about man going to space but don’t know about rap and hip hop’s roots in Africa baffles me.

However I have come to understand that a lot people romanticize Africa.” Tribalism, which has been a problem in the past for African has not been one for Hip Life. Aretha Amma, the founder of Global Fusion Productions said Ghana since independence has always had the arts and culture as a priority to showcasing our nation to the world.

Ghanaians brought Hi-Life music which originally is known as Osibi to most of Africa and the world through renown artists like Osibisa and Fela Kuti (who was originally a Hi-Life artist) now hip life artists who cut across all tribal and religious lines have brought a new global resurgence to popularizing our culture throughout the world.

Reggaeton like Hip Life is a music genre that includes aspects of hip hop but in Spanish has already broken in the mainstream. Hip Life is still trying to breakthrough but with local stars like Wanlov, Sena, Samini, and V.I.P. spreading the music and touring internationally cracking mainstream might come sooner than later. The documentary film Black Star Rising will focus on the progress Ghana has made since its independence celebrating its 50 year anniversary. It will be released in 2010. Ghana is going to be cendependence on March 6th.can’t be caged.