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Music of Thursday, 30 November 2006

Source: ghanamusic.com

Ghanaian Musician Creates Waves In Germany

Richard Yeboah, a German based Ghanaian musician has said that the hip-hop music revolution in Ghana is as strong as it is in Germany.

He said the effective blend of hip-hop and high-life to create a new synthesis of hip-life, has gained strong grounds in Ghana adding that Ghanaians should be grateful to Reggie Rockstone, the godfather of hip-life for this initiative.

?I am really proud of the exploits of Reggie Rockstone and I am lookingfor an opportunity to work with him?, says Yeboah.

Rich Boogie as he's affectionately called by his fans, was born some two and a half decades ago but migrated to Germany at the tender age of nine with his mother to settle in the city of Dortmund, where he's been living since the mid 1990's.

In Germany, the young Ghanaian got caught up in the frenzy of what has today become one of the most popular musical genres?Rap.

Now a full time musician, the singer/songwriter speaks of his entrance into the music world which begun at the early age of 14, and how it has impacted upon his life today from back in the days when he started imitating musicians like KRS1 of early rap music fame and Damian Marley, son of legendary Bob Marley.

"As far as I can recall, I started doing serious music at the age of 14 - young and rebellious as I was, rap music provided a sort of solace for me as I could relate directly to the lyrics and danceable rhythms.

Within a short period of time, I begun working as a Disc Jockey in night clubs. Two years onwards Yeboah started his own records store known as Boogieness Records. He has since been building the label based on his entrepreneurial skills and knowledge of the music industry in Dortmund and Germany as a whole.

Presently, there are five artistes who have signed on to his record label (himself inclusive) -and together they are feverishly working on what is going to be the first album on the label, which would be titled "a piece of booginess".

The album, which is to be a composition of rap, dancehall and reggae songs in both German and English, has Yeboah doing more of the dancehall and reggae stuff. Dortmunds-Strassen, a reggae track, is currently gaining popularity in Dortmund.

As he puts it "the track Dortmund-Strassen which literally translates as the streets of Dortmund? is on its way to becoming number one in Dortmund and with the release of the album, it won?t be too long before this happens?.

"The humble upbringing I got from my parents during my childhood coupled with the fact that I was one of the young ones among ten siblings ensured that I behaved considerately - and it is a character trait that endears me to my fans", he says.

Sporting dreadlocks doesn't take away from his belief in God, whom he attributes mostly to his success, it's only a statement of fashion meant to identify him with the kind of music he does?including reggae?and as he puts it he tries to live a simple life.

"My next project which is going to be made up of strictly reggae and dancehall beats in English will mainly aim at introducing my music to Ghana and I hope to come back home to work on it and possibly do a hip-life collaboration with my mentor?Reggie Rockstone".

The future holds a lot of opportunities and he hopes to work with other artistes and fans to ensure the success of Boogieness Records and in so doing lift high the flag of Ghana by becoming one of the successful musicians in Germany to have sprung out of Ghana.