Hiplife

Hiplife is Ghanaian popular music fusing hip hop with highlife, the country's guitar-band tradition. Rappers deliver verses in Twi, Ga, Ewe and other Ghanaian languages over beats that sample or replay highlife guitar figures, church keyboards and local percussion, while sung hooks keep the music rooted in Ghanaian melody. Founded in the mid-1990s by *Reggie Rockstone*, hiplife moved rap into Ghana's mainstream and became the dominant youth music of Accra, spawning stars such as *Obrafour* and, later, *Sarkodie*. Its blend of local language, proverb and dance rhythm distinguishes it from imported hip hop.