Music icon Reggie Rockstone has said he would have taken the business part of music more seriously were the Hiplife revolution, which he led, happening today.
Saturday, April 15, 2023, the venerated rapper nicknamed the Grand Papa of Hiplife guested on ‘The Big Show’ on Class 91.3 FM.
Kumi, a listener to āThe Big Showā hosted by Nana Kwesi Asare, texted in asking Reggie Rockstone if he would have done things differently, with the advantage of hindsight.
āYes,ā Rockstone readily answered. āBecause thereās always room for improvement. I believe in that.ā
āOne, I would have put the business side of it much higher because itās called show business (showbiz),ā he added, confessing that because the passion and ease of music creation āwas just a gift God gave me, I never thought about it from the business side of things.ā
āToday, knowing the world and how things have been positioned, I would have probably looked at it from a more business standpoint,ā the businessman noted.
That said, he second-guessed himself arguing that: āWhoās to say that if I had done it from a business standpoint, I would have given my all?ā
āMaybe the freeness of it; the very selflessness of it is what made it get to the people,ā he emphasised.
Returning to the importance of viewing music, in this case Hiplife, as a business venture, he considered the economic boost the genre and its attending revolution could have given Ghana if it had been mindfully engineered.
āI do realise that economically, it could really have helped my country,ā he said.
However, the ‘Agoo’ hitmaker observed that: āIt has done immensely well for young people in Africa and Ghana and so I can see it creating more jobs and employment because I mean look what Hiplife did [over time].ā
He marveled at the discovery of āamazing talentsā and how āpeople have been able to create and earn a living [from] this [genre].ā
āYou know, you get to travel all over the world,ā he added, citing artites like: āSarkodie… Black Sherif…ā
āAll these came from a certain place ā a seed that was sown and Iāve lived long enough to see what it has become,ā he remarked contentedly.
Furthermore, the Grand Papa cited the phenomenon of Africans in the Diaspora making music with the continent’s stars.
āBeyonce making music with Shatta Wale,ā he mentioned.
āThese are great feats and we should never undermine what it is that we have done,ā he noted.
āAnd not just me,” he admitted. “I was just chosen to lead but collectively, we all contributed to what it became.ā
The music pioneer posited that before the ascendency of Afrobeats, it was Ghana leading the music charge with Hiplife.
āWe were the once who inspired young Black Africans all over Africa!ā he strongly said.
Reggie Rockstone argued that ājust as Dr Osagyefoā Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first Prime Minister and President, an iconic Pan-Africanist, āpaid his dues, we paid our dues with this musical collectionā and ātoday, Afrobeats is worldwide and its making millions of dollars.ā
āWeāre eligible for a slice of that pie,ā he added. āBecause we worked for it.ā
Reggie Rockstone came to prominence in the early 90s having successfully amalgamated Ghana’s Highlife with Hiphop from AmericaĀ āĀ creating HiplifeĀ āĀ together with his friend and music partner DJĀ RabĀ BakariĀ of blessed memory.