For years, Ghana has failed to credit Reggie Rockstone for his immense contribution to the music industry, especially as the originator of the genre, Hiplife.
Nicknamed the ‘Hiplife Grandpapa’, Reggie, real name Reginald Yaw Asante Osei, has stayed relevant in the industry from 1993 to date, creating hits after hits.
The iconic musician, known for hits like “Eye Mo De Anaa,” has bemoaned the abandonment of a documentary he produced ten years ago called “Living The Hiplife.”
All effort to get it on Ghanaian televisions has also proven futile.
According to the man whose greatest desire is to tell the “Ghanaian story”, his country has failed to support their own.
His comment comes on the back of the latest Netflix documentary ‘Afrobeats: The Backstory’ by Nigerian music producer, Ayo Shonaiya.
“My country I have approached so many times. I can’t even get it on TV3, so it is a good question you just asked. This documentary was shot by a professor from New York. It is extensive. You will see everybody in this documentary. It is called ‘Living The Hiplife’. Then he wrote a book. It is lying there right now. I have been talking about this, but nobody seems to care,” he lamented.
Reggie Rockstone has identified some errors in the Netflix documentary in regards to Ghana’s contributions to Afrobeats, but as expected, once you fail to tell your story, others will sell a different narrative to the world.
“Now that this new documentary ( Afro Beats) is out, people are saying I never did something like that. I did it 10 years ago, 10 years, and it is lying down. It is extensive. Everybody was featured in it, including Obrafour and co. So this is why I tell you I feel disrespected. We don’t value our own. Listen, the documentary, I can say to you, is better than the one you watched,” Reggie Rockstone stated in an interview with Hitz FM.
CREDIT: Ghanaweb.com
