Hiplife is (according to Wikipedia) “a Ghanaian musical style which fuses highlife and hip hop. It is also influenced by dancehall and reggae. Recorded in Ghanaian languages such as Twi, Eweand Ga, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity throughout West Africa and abroad”
I love it! (Never mind the messaging and imagery.) My amigos know I am a fan of some good beats that make ya wanna move! So I am including links to a bunch of hiplife videos here. (For those who haven’t noticed in posts below; anytime a word is a lighter shade it is a link which will take you to further information or in this case a video.)
Hiplife videos are much like hip hop from the states in that they tend to objectify women and are often filmed at the club or on a boat, but all of them encourage you to party hard. A case in point is this one that just makes me feel so happy! Here's one more that makes my point for me.
It made me sad to find out what Shashee wowo means (prostitute)! I like the dance the women in the video do and I also enjoy dancing to this song but now the meaning of the song will always be on my mind. So I have decided to be less inquisitive about the meanings behind the lyrics of these songs. (So not Social Worky of me!) I have to say that at home I prefer conscious hip hop to the 'bitches and bling' stuff but here I'm just trying to enjoy the music.
I dare you to try not to do a little dance when you hear this song which encourages everyone to dance to the beat. The Ghana pride in this video is very representative of the pride most people here have for their country. (Rightly so- Ghana is an amazing place!) While this one takes pride in African women, while simultaneously undermining them by calling them girls. This video asks you to dance like a ba-ta-fly and when this one comes on everyone knows the move… AWAY! Part of the Away video is filmed at the Melcom shopping center (it looks much more luxurious in the video than in real life). Ghanaians love featuring their shopping malls in videos like in this one where you will briefly find yourself in the Accra mall. As Theo explained, the vast majority of hiplife songs are about women and many of them are about cheating. This lovely song, on the other hand, gives you an impression of Ghanaian men, talking about marrying ya the second time they meet you and wanting to protect you (2 minutes into the video). It’s flattering but overwhelming!
Of course there are some fantastic females reppin’ here as well! This video cracks me up and I will always remember the first time I heard “Easy Baby” was from Emmah at Hope orphanage J
And then, of course, there's the all time favorite of the Ghana Maymester 2010!!
