It is no secret that “HipLife” Grandpapa, Reggie Rockstone is the pioneer of the genre in Ghana.
Although he has contributed immensely to the growth of the genre and inspired generations of rappers in the country, Reggie Rockstone believes Ghanaians have not given him enough credit.
Over the week, a conversation on the origin of the “Afrobeats” genre was sparked following the release of a Netflix documentary ‘Afrobeats: The Backstory’ by Nigerian music producer, Ayo Shonaiya.
Reggie Rockstone, who has identified some errors in Ayo Shonaiya’s documentary, believes it could have been prevented if Ghana had given him the opportunity to air his own documentary from 10 years ago, detailing the growth of the genre.
According to Reggie Rockstone in an interview with Andy Dosty on Hitz FM, people are calling him out for not producing a documentary of his own when he did that ten years ago.
“Now that this new documentary ( Afro Beats) is out, people are saying I never did something like that. I did it 10 years ago, 10 years, and it is lying down. It is extensive. Everybody was featured in it, including Obrafour and co. So this is why I tell you I feel disrespected. We don’t value our own. Listen, the documentary, I can say to you, is better than the one you watched,” he stated.
Rockstone also reveals his documentary, ‘Living The Hiplife,’ shot by a New York Professor, was turned down by TV3 many years ago when he approached them to air it.
“My country I have approached so many times. I can’t even get it on TV3, so it is a good question you just asked. This documentary was shot by a professor from New York. It is extensive. You will see everybody in this documentary. It is called ‘Living The Hiplife’. Then he wrote a book. It is lying there right now. I have been talking about this, but nobody seems to care,” he lamented.
