Afrobeats may be the dominant sound right now in Ghana, as in many other African countries, but the sounds of Jamaica can still be heard blaring through the speakers of Ghana\u2019s roadside and beach bars almost every day.<\/p>\n
Thursdays are reggae nights in two big clubs in the capital, Accra \u2013 turning up the heat in an already hot climate.<\/p>\n
Jamaican musicians such as the late greats Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and the group Culture have long been credited with planting the seeds of reggae music on African soil 50 years ago \u2013 and Ghana shows the roots have grown deep, and gone on to produce homegrown talent.<\/p>\n This love of reggae has also had a cultural bearing on the language: it is not hard these days to hear Ghanaians talking a little Jamaican Patois, which is different from Pidgin English, a lingua franca spoken by roughly a fifth of Ghana\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Take Livingston Satekla, one the biggest reggae-dancehall artists to come out of Africa, better known as Stonebwoy. The spelling of his stage name is a nod to Jamaican Patois.<\/p>\n The phrase \u201cWho is that boy singing?\u201d in Ghanaian Pidgin is: \u201cWho be dat boy weh he de sing for deh?\u201d In Jamaican Patois it is: \u201cAh who dat bwoy weh im ah sing fi deh?\u201d<\/p>\n In a recent interview Stonebwoy and I discussed the growing use of Patois in Ghana, frowned upon by some Ghanaians.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with learning to communicate in Patois, which comes as part and parcel of reggae-dancehall as a core tool of communication? If you love reggae-dancehall you ought to learn Patois,\u201d the 34-year-old musician told me.<\/p>\n Born in the ghettos of Ashaiman outside Accra, Stonebwoy would regularly listen to Jamaican dancehall dons like Capelton, Anthony-B and Beenie Man as a teenager \u2013 wanting to sound just like his Patois-speaking heroes.<\/p>\n He would later go on to host some of the very same people at his annual BHIM Concert, arguably one of the most successful dancehall showcases in Africa.<\/p>\n It takes place in December as part of Ghana\u2019s Beyond The Return campaign \u2013 a project designed to encourage people from the diaspora to visit the country.<\/p>\n It draws big crowds \u2013 me included \u2013 and last year featured Jamaica\u2019s Busy Signal, who had many of his fellow countrymen and women singing along to his hits.<\/p>\n Some in the audience could be seen with dreadlocks \u2013 worn by Rastafarians.<\/p>\n Reggae has been instrumental in spreading the rasta message. It too has been a cheerleader for Africa \u2013 singing about the beauty of the continent, boasting of its natural resources while calling for people in the diaspora to return to the motherland.<\/p>\n This has gone a long way to solidify the bond between reggae and Africa, especially during and after colonial rule.<\/p>\n It makes sense that Ghana, among the first African countries to gain independence (from the UK in 1957), gravitates to the sounds of struggle and strife associated with reggae. It has had plenty of struggle and strife, having experienced six military coups between the 1960s and 1980s.<\/p>\n Classique Vibes \u2013 Higher 70\u2019s GHANA Roots Reggae #afrosunny<\/a> #ghana<\/a> #ghanamusic<\/a> #ghanaian<\/a> #ghanaianmusic<\/a> #ghanareggae<\/a> #afrobeat<\/a> #ghanasongs<\/a> #reggaemusic<\/a> #ghanahighlife<\/a> #highlife<\/a> #highlifemusic<\/a> #ghanaianreggae<\/a> #accra<\/a> #accramusic<\/a> #kumasi<\/a> #ghanapeople<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/VAi448Uufj pic.twitter.com\/3oHDpStkv7<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Posters](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/_128727241_gettyimages-627570602_afp976.jpg\" "\\"Ghana's")
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