Ghana's Highlife 'the heart' of today's Afrobeats revolution - Stonebwoy to Rick Ross

Stonebwoy has made a strong case for the undebatable influence of Ghana and its Highlife on today’s internationally acclaimed Afrobeats music.

The singer-songwriter was responding to American rap star Rick Ross asking about the role of Ghana in contemporary music over the last decade.

Stonebwoy noted Ghanaian music “has always contributed” to the enduring “influence of African music” as is obvious “globally”.

In the “last decade, Ghana music has influenced the Afrobeats sound,” he said.

Ghana music is “pivotal to the Afrobeats of today,” Stonebwoy doubled down.

He asserted, on the Instagram Live feed, that Highlife music is “the heart” and a crucial “contributor to the core” of the revolutionary sound of Afrobeats presently sweeping all across the globe.

Stonebwoy reminded the world of Highlife’s everlasting prominence and influence from “even before the last ten years”.

Thereafter, he highlighted his personal efforts invested into “bridging the gap,” all the while pushing the boundaries of contemporary African music by blending cultures and “music of Black origin”.

Often regarded as the originator of AfroDancehall, he cited “tapping into the Jamaican” and “Carribean” musical heritage.

He offered Black Sherif as another example of music experimentation which has brought recognition to Africa’s pop music scene.

“We have my brother Black Sherif, who also came through with some mad a** energy,” combining “the Highlife feeling but still gives us some Hiphop kind of energy. That’s something that took the world by storm,” the BET winner explained.

Rick Ross, agreeing, repeated his remark that the rise of Afrobeats is best described as “an explosion”.

Stonebwoy went on to salute the music “producers from Ghana” powering the Afrobeats scene, doing “magic” and “producing masterpieces”.

Rick Ross asked for names.

“We got producers like Street Beatz, Mix Masta Garzy…” Stonebwoy answered.

StreetBeatz produced the most streamed Ghanaian song ever, Adonai Remix by Sarkodie featuring Castro (2015). He created Shuga for Stonebwoy, with Beenie Man as guest (2019), and most recently, Darkovibes’ Inna Song (Lime & Gin) featuring King Promise (2020).

Mix Masta Garzy has worked with Stonebwoy, Sarkodie, Davido, Patoranking, and Harmonize, among others.

Meanwhile, Stonebwoy's latest offering is a 17-track album, 5th Dimension, which houses hits like Manodzi, Into the Future, Apotheke, Activate, etc.