Reggie Rockstone, whose real name is Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, was born on April 11, 1964, in the United Kingdom. He is a renowned Ghanaian rapper and is often referred to as the “Godfather of Hiplife”.
Early Life and Education
Reggie Rockstone was born in the United Kingdom but lived his early years in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana. He attended Achimota School. He has been living in Ghana continuously since he pioneered the Hip-Life movement in 1994.
Career
Reggie Rockstone began his music career as a dancer, traveling on a tri-continental basis (i.e., Accra, New York, London), where he broadened his Hip Hop scope. As a performer and trained actor, he began rapping in 1991. His first ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ came as a dancer in Accra in the early 80’s. His second chance at fame came in 1992-93 as a member of one of the top rap groups from London, England. He belonged to PLZ (Parables, Linguistics and Zlang) with Fredi Funkstone, Jay (both from West Africa) & DJ Pogo of the U.K.
In 1994, he returned to Accra to encounter a whole generation of people grooving to African-American rhythms, all heavily influenced by the same elements of Hip Hop that he knew. He used the hip hop beats with authentic phat production and laced it with true African dialect; The Akan language of Twi.
Achievements
Reggie Rockstone is credited as the pioneer of hiplife or Kasahara music in Ghana. He has played an important role in the development of this uniquely African genre in Ghana. He raps in Akan, precisely Asante Twi. In 2004, Rockstone won the Kora Award for the best African video and he performed in front of a 50,000-person crowd in Ghana, together with Shaggy.