Veteran rapper Okyeame Kwame has blamed his generation for failing to build the structures necessary to sustain the Hiplife genre.
Speaking on 'Point of View' with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV, he argued that the survival of Hiplife now depends on whether younger artistes such as Sarkodie, Amerado, Lasmid, and Olivetheboy are willing to identify with the genre.
However, he admitted it is unlikely that these artistes will embrace the genre.
"As a music genre, it is only going to stay if younger people decide to call their music hip-hop.
“But as long as they have given up on the name ‘Hip-life’ and now identify as hip-hop artiste or afro-beat artiste or afro-pop artiste, then hip-life is gone," he said.
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Okyeame Kwame argued that the pioneer generation, including VIP, Obrafuor, and Reggie Rockstone, dropped the ball by prioritising the moment over legacy, building, leaving no pathway for younger artistes to follow.
“They will not claim it for business purposes because we failed terribly at creating structures to keep it alive, keep it alive because we were enjoying the moment,” he added.
He pointed out the absence of Hiplife as a recognised category on major streaming platforms.
“Now, when a young person makes his music, he goes to put it on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and there's no place that says 'hip-hop' for him to put that music under.
“The music must be put under Afro-pop, alternative hip-hop, African music, or something. And since we did not create that opportunity for them to be able to eat. So now, if you make hip-hop music, you are going to be disenfranchised,” he added.
The rapper said the only realistic path to revival is either for the pioneers to return with successful Hiplife releases or to make the genre economically attractive enough for the next generation to embrace.
“So the future of hip life can only come back if people like me, VIP, Obrafuor, Reggie Rockstone, and the other hip-life artists decide to release hip-life music again and it becomes successful,” he said.
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