One variant of highlife music which has taken the entire Ghana by storm, particularly among the young music lovers is Hiplife.
As the debate rages on as to whether the emergence of Hiplife is going to dwarf the old cherished Highlife.
One of such youngsters in his twenties who has released a song which will make it to the Top 10 is Dezmon 2Tu, born Desmond Nana Kweku Nunoo.
The Desmond Tutu of South Africa and he Dezmon 2Tu have something in common which is the medium of communication to the public, Dezmon 2Tu's debut album, "Hiplife, The New Chapter Remix" was produced by Dr. Kwesi Owusu under Storm Records of Creative Storm Multimedia and distributed by Lucky Sounds.
"Hiplife, The New Chapter Remix" was launched on 19th April at the British Council auditorium which was a joint Creative Storm and British Council-Accra event.
The entire audience had a good time as Dezmon 2Tu did boast his skills as a poet with rap during the accapella break from songs on his first album.
On the "Hiplife, The New Chapter Remix" album, Dezmon 2Tu used language and poetry as skills to make the entire songs, so it's a warning alarm to all the youngsters that aren't lyrics tight.
The album contains 10 songs on the CD whiles 8 songs on the cassette and had guest artists like Tinny adding his skills on the "PETUO" song, which talks about when a good friend turns to your enemy, Tinny as usual boast of his Ga attack rap which made the entire song a classic.
Another song to look out for is "Odo Letter":-which is a love song about a Ghanaian guy leaving his girl to Britain and abandon her, she wrote a letter telling him about issues at home, but listening to this song might remember you about Dido's "Thank you" or Emnemen & Dido's "Stan".
Dezmon's album was recorded here in Accra, but was remixed in London by Vico and Dr. Kwesi Owusu to bump up the phatness of the beats and the rhymes.
It featured world class music makers including Alf Bannerman, the ace Ghanaian guiterist, he played the sensational rock guiters on "Petuo" which featured Tinny.
Hammer of the Last Two, the hiplife's leading producer and some "Under Ground Hungry Soldiers" spitting on the album with beats from Hammer did add class to the making of the album.
During the launch, the most surprising part was when the stage was given to unsigned Hiplife Soldiers to do their own thing. Some did boast of their skills which when tapped might make them hit gold.
The audience had so much fun during this section, but the hottest part was when the classic "Petuo" video was screened which features Tinny.
The Master of Ceremony and Executive Producer Dr' Kwesi Owusu, gave a power point presentation on the topic, "What is exciting about Hiplife in Ghana's musical history?"
In his words, he defined Hiplife as the fusing of Highlife and Hip-hop and took the entire audience through the days when Highlife was on top and Accra was experiencing the nightlife with music lovers patronizing place to dance to Highlife music.
Dr. Kwesi and Dezmon paid tribute to the forerunners of music and poetry.likes of Atukwei Okai, Okyerema Asante and Gyedu Blay Amboulley musical poets who came before hiplife.
He cited the lyrical source of hiplife music being traditional folklore and drum poetry represented by the royal linguists, pointing Okyeame Akuffo as one standing taller among all in the history of Ghana.
He was the Chief Linguist of Ghana's first parliament and an extraordinary lyricist.
The presentation went memory lane as footage from the late Terry Bonchaka's funeral was also screened to pay tribute to him as part of the event.
In a chat with N Joy's Van-Souljah, Dezmon 2Tu stress that he was so happy about his launch, because it's a dream come true to have a joint event from British Council and Creative Storm.
He added that Hiplife has a very classic feature since it has gained international recognition with some hiplife musicians winning International Awards.
