Musician Okyeame Kwame has said the reluctance of young artistes to embrace the Hiplife genre or label their music as such is because they see no financial benefit it would bring.
Speaking on Hitz FM’s Daybreak Hitz, Okyeame Kwame pointed out the absence of Hiplife as a recognised genre on major streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music giving artistes of the genre nowhere to sell their music.
This, he explained, forces artists to categorise their music as Afrobeat, HipHop, or Afro-Fusion to gain visibility or put them under the Alternative category, where the music would struggle to stand out in the myriad of songs.
“We are creating music to have two things financial impact and social impact. So if socially, the music is becoming big, people are listening to it and so if he cannot sell the music, why then is he doing? How is he going to feed his family?”
“So that is the first thing. It’s a business and because it’s a business, he must sell it. And to be able to distribute it, it must fit on the distribution shelf, Hiplife has no place in the world like that. Because of that, if I were young and I was making music today would I have called it Hiplife? No, I wouldn’t have done that,” he added.
Reflecting on the past success of Hiplife during his era, he noted that the genre’s success could be attributed to the available distribution channels and the readiness of radio stations and people to enjoy the genre.
He also attributed the decline of Hiplife’s popularity to the failure of older artistes to make the genre appealing to younger generations.
“Every other genre evolves into a much bigger thing, but, as it is evolving the leaders of that genre or the unions that govern the music find a way to keep the name alive and give it an extension. So for example Hip-hop, we have hip-hop soul, hip-hop R&B, hip-hop trap and others. Same way with Highlife that became Borger Highlife and that became Hiplife.”
“But as Hiplife was growing something happened somewhere that told the young people that if they decide to call to name the genre of music that they are doing Hiplife, it will cost them more than benefit them.”
Okyeame Kwame proposed some solutions to the challenge including a collaboration between relevant institutions like telecommunications, GHAMRO, MUSIGA others, to create Ghana’s music streaming platform.
Such a platform would cater to a variety of genres, including Adowa, Afrofusion, Highlife, and Hiplife. By providing a dedicated space for these genres, young artists would have the opportunity to showcase their work, optimize visibility, and generate income.
He expressed optimism, saying, “It is not beyond us. If Ghana creates its platform, where we have Adowa, Afrofusion, Highlife, Hiplife, and others, we try our best to put it on a pedestal where a lot of young people can put their songs, where they will be optimized and visible if we can do that, then we have created a channel for them to express themselves and make some money.”
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