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Hiplife has become unattractive because radio stations demand Payola before playing our music- Reggie Rockstone
Hiplife “Grandpapa” Reggie Rockstone has reacted to rapper M.anifest’s comments about the state of the Hiplife genre in Ghana in a recent BBC documentary, ‘Hiplife Rewind.’
M.anifest had stated in the BBC documentary that he believes Hiplife is dead is because the younger generation is no longer interested, and the originators failed to evolve with the sound and times.
“Hiplife is dead because the driving force of the music is the younger people and the younger people do not identify what Hiplife is. The originators of Hiplife were a bit too precious about what it should be so as new versions sonically were happening, you could hear people saying, ‘Oh, this Jama, this Azonto, is watered down, it’s not real’, you have to evolve or perish and that is what any music form has to understand,” he said in the documentary.
However, reacting to M.anifest’s comments during an interview on Akoma FM’s entertainment 360, Reggie Rockstone explained that he does not agree with M.anifest’s sentiments, adding that the genre became unattractive due to the request of “payola” by DJs before playing music.
“I can’t say that Hiplife is dead, and I said that in the documentary that I can’t sit here in Ghana and say that something I gave birth and name to is dead, even though I understand his(M.anifest) sentiments.
“The brand Hiplife has become quite unattractive to associate with for various reasons. One of which is radio stations demanding Payola before playing our music. This was what they were doing to us when we had just started laying the foundation of the genre where we had little to pay for the music to be played”, he stated.
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“Payola”, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment.
The issue has been a huge subject of debate as many young talents with great potentials have abandoned their music ambitions due to the financial demands that come with getting their music played on radio or television.
