Highlife, Hiplife, Rag-life, Borga Highlife, Asakaa and many more. Ghana’s position as one of Africa’s richest creative hubs is not a thing of just hearsay. Over the years, Ghana’s contribution, although some have been lost to time, still lingers and, in some cases, is heavily documented across diverse mediums. Hence, when people speak of African arts and entertainment, Ghana is often mentioned as one of the important hubs.
In our bid to document our rich art stories, we at Ghana Music will highlight the transition of dancehall music over the years in this piece.
Reggae and dancehall music, which originated in Jamaica, is one of the world’s most celebrated music genres. With dancehall being considered widely as a derivative of reggae, it is not surprising that its popularity has grown over the decades comparable to reggae within Africa.
While the similarities between Africans and Jamaicans is evident in their respective culture and political history which played a role in popularizing reggae music and dancehall on the continent, Africans have, over the period, found a way to localize the genre by fusing local musical elements with reggae/dancehall. One such country is Ghana.
For this article, we aim to highlight how Ghanaians adopted dancehall and its culture, merged it with what was ours and how that has transitioned into the birth of an ever-rising sound in Afro-Dancehall.
The tenets of what Afro-Dancehall is began years ago when ragga artists at the time would fuse Dancehall elements like the patois and flow with highlife melodies or the then popular rising genre at the time Hiplife rap style. According to renowned author, lecturer and musician Prof. John Collins, the mid-1980s ushered in a new reggae sound system known as “Hi-Power” led by the likes of General Marcus, Preacher Levi.
Years later, artists like Abrewa Nana, Yoggi Doggi, Root-I, Soni Bali, Samini and a host of those championed the sound amidst the fast-growing Hiplife genre, further elevating Ghana’s status as a music giant. In this video below, Abrewa Nana gives a detailed account of what forms the basis of what Rag-Life is.
While some have attributed the creation of the genre to other artists, an article on Ghana Web dated May 24, 2003, states that Yoggi Doogi is the inventor (more like an innovator) of Rag-Life- the localised variation of dancehall music. This article is not here to argue the “who invented rag-life”. Rather, we are only highlighting items regarding the transition of Dancehall music in Ghana.
Unfortunately, while Rag-Life as a genre name was not highly successful, the tenant of what it was and what it meant was very successful as seen in the music and careers of the artists like Samini, Shatta Wale (then Bandana), Triple M, Kofi B, Madfish,OD4, Ras Negga and a host of others. The height of Rag-Life was inarguably Samini’s nomination and subsequently winning “Best African Artist” at the MOBO Awards in 2006.
Years down the line, while the name Rag-Life had been sidelined, the concept evolved into something even bigger and relatable: Afro-Dancehall. While Ghana was going through a transition of genres, other African countries where dancehall music was well-received had been fusing their sounds with dancehall elements. One such country is Nigeria. Artists like Timaya, Patoranking, Cynthia Morgan, Burna Boy, Ruger and to an extent 2Face have brilliantly merged dancehall elements with Afrobeats.
African artists from the West to East who made dancehall music may not have openly called it Afro-Dancehall. However, the core elements that define Afro-Dancehall, as seen in Rag-Life, have always been present in their work. Whether or not they used the label, the influence is clear in what many did then and what others continue to do now.
Back home in Ghana, dancehall will grow to become so popular between 2013 to 2017, a period often described as ‘’the Reggae/dancehall revolution’’, where the genre dominated our charts. Within that period, now famed Shatta Wale, who had rebranded from Bandana, had made a comeback to the music industry.
A part of his comeback was a heated rivalry with Samini and his associates in Kaakie and Stonebwoy. The period of the dancehall revolution was so dominant, artists who were not dancehall acts could not help but jump on the ride.
That period produced a plethora of artists from the late Ebony, Jupitar, Vybrant Faya, Rude Bwoy Ranking, Mzvee, Epixode, Rashid Metal, D Sherif, AK Songstress, Tsoobi and a host of others. While some maintained their stances as strictly dancehall artists, others like Shatta Wale described the music as African Dancehall and conferred the title of African Dancehall King. In all this, Stonebwoy, who was also a leading figure during the period, was popularizing Afro-dancehall.
It is important to note that, the first time these writers heard the word Afro-Dancehall being used was by multiple award-winning artist Stonebwoy, who is credited as the “originator” of the genre. In his song “Pull Up” he referred to the music he made as “Afro-Dancehall” with the line “Afro-dancehall papa bini”. He consistently fused traditional Ghanaian elements with modern dancehall and pushed the fusion that remained true to Ghanaian roots as evident on his 2020 album “Anloga Junction”. The album blended Afro rhythms with reggae/dancehall at a new scale and primed the popularity and mass appeal of the genre. It was a sonic shift, especially with collaborations that extended the reach of the genre beyond Ghana.
He noted this deliberate intention during an interview with Grammy.com, “We are the custodians and we have to continue to bridge the gap by spreading the vibes…I decided to tap into that energy to bring back some originality and remind us of the times before.” after the release of his 2024 project “UP & RUNNI6”.
Afrobeats may be the leading sound for African music currently, but there is so much more to African music than just Afrobeats. Afro-Dancehall is one of the key genres that offers African dancehall artists the room to be innovative through the fusing of various dancehall and African or local elements to create irresistible music for their audiences. Again, the make and mould of Afrobeats affords artists from different musical backgrounds to fuse their sounds with their African roots as was the tenets of Hiplife and then Rag-Life.
The similarities in both Ghanaian and Jamaican culture mean one thing: we will continue to see an intersection of sounds between both regions, with an extension of that fusion moving into other parts of the Caribbean.
Stonebwoy may have championed the sound, but it has taken a collective effort of others who, consciously or not, have popularized and amplified the sound and made it attractive for younger people to follow. Artists like Patoranking and the success of his career over the years have played a part in the amplification of the genre. Today, one of the biggest songs from the continent “Shake it to the max” by Moliy, is a fruit of the seeds sown by the pioneers of Rag-Life and championed by Stonebwoy through his Afro-Dancehall crusade.
Hence these writers believe Afro-Dancehall is simply Rag-Life evolved and refined as the essence and tenets remain the same. The rhythms, the vocal stylings, and the cultural blend haven’t changed, just the name as championed by Stonebwoy.
Like those before who sought to popularize Rag-Life, artists like Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Larusso and even non-Ghanaian artists who have dancehall influences in their music continue to ride on the wings of Afro-Dancehall to push their sound without the need to directly box themselves as Afrobeats artists.
