Young Ghanaian Artistes Are Not Doing Hiplife Because There Is No Hiplife Music Category On Streaming Platforms – Okyeame Kwame Asserts

Ghanaian rapper, Kwame Nsiah-Apau, well-known as Okyeame Kwame, has raised a concern about why young artistes in the country are not doing Hiplife.

The ‘Made in Ghana’ composer asserted in a recent interview that the lack of Hiplife category on streaming platforms is the reason why young artistes are not doing Hiplife music.

He acknowledged the changes that have emerged regarding the promotion of music in Ghana.

“Music and marketing these days are about money. Gone are the days when we used to sell our CDs to promote our music and make money,” Okyeame told Afia Owusu on TV XYZ’s XZONE.

“Now music is on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon. The online platforms have no genre called Hiplife. So, where are you going to sell your music when you call it Hiplife? There’s no Hiplife on streaming platforms; all they have is hip hop, Afrobeat, neo soul, soul, alternative music, African music, and experimental. So, if your song is not one of these categories, it’s more like creating a round product where the shelves are all in square shape,” he added.

Okyeame Kwame further stated that the pioneers of Hiplife should have created a similar platform.

“As pioneers, we should have created a similar platform because these streaming platforms were created by man and we can also do the same. If we had done the same with all Ghanaian genres, the younger generation would have been interested in our genres, but the white man will promote his own with stuff he created.”