Legendary Ghanaian rapper and Hip-life pioneer, Reggie Rockstone has opened up about why he refused to be the opening act for American rapper Jay Z during the latter’s visit to Ghana in 2006.
It could be recalled that in 2006, African-American rapper Shawn Carter, aka Jay Z, embarked on an “African Pilgrimage” tour across some African countries, including Angola, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.
His visit to Ghana included a concert at the Accra International Conference Centre, which was organised by Charter House.
Various big names in Ghana at the time were booked to perform on the same stage as him, including Samini, Obrafour, Wutah, and Reggie Rockstone.
Ghanaians were left in shock, however, when news broke that Reggie Rockstone had declined the gig.
A statement released by Rockstone’s management at the time stated that the refusal was due to the fact that he being a headline act “would have compromised the respect and integrity his many fans have for him,” and that the artiste didn't want to reinforce the “shabby opportunistic treatment often afforded local artistes.”
Recently, in an interview with BlacVolta Nightlife Podcast, Reggie Rockstone explained that he refused the opportunity because he wanted to preserve the prestige of Ghana’s hip-life genre.
The Hip-life Grandpapa explained that he expected to rather be introduced by Jay Z as an ode to Hip-Life. However, he took offense when he was requested to perform as an opening act, as he saw himself as a prominent figure in the Hip-Life genre.
“I refused because, at the time I realised how Star struck y'all was, I'm blown away, too. I'm feeling the vibe that he's come home, because on the strength of Hip Life is how these folks was able to come home (Hip-hop).
“And so my whole idea was, if Jay Z comes on stage and he introduces me or not even introduce me, brings me out, of course, he's the headliner that empowers Hip Life. Yeah. If you have the dude who is the OG of Hip Life as an opening act, we losing power. I'm supposed to be the leader,” he explained.
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