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Reggie Rockstone, aka the Godfather of Hiplife, pioneered the Hiplife movement in 1994, combining the style and message of Hip Hop with the languages and dialects of Ghana, such as Asante Twi and Akan.

IG: reggierockstone711

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Jayso, who has often been referred to as the Ghanian RZA, is known for his production skills, his usage of both English and pidgin in his music, and jump-starting GH Rap (Rap made in Ghana) through his music group, Skillions.

IG: jaysoskillions

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Abena Rockstar, Kumasi native, started in 2014 with the release of her album "Only Few Can Relate". She is known for her intense and cutting lyrics about the realities of life as a woman.

IG: abenarockstar

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This article describes Amanda Eke's journey through making a film about Ghana and its representation of Hip Hop, present day.

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A new documentary delves into the worlds of għana and hip-hop in Malta and explores how their fusion influences the local musical landscape. Lara Zammit speaks with film-maker Amanda Eke about her film Bidla and her take on this seemingly improbable musical merger. Bidla is set to explore the...

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MzVee's second single, "Natural Girl" boosted her fan base with women and girls who choose to embrace their natural form (body, hair, etc.). In 2019, she opened up about taking a hiatus from music due to her depression, and reflected on it vulnerably in her 2020 album, "inVeencible".

IG: mzveegh

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Hannah Kudjoe was one of the first female nationalists in the struggle of independence. She was the Propaganda Secretary for the Conventional People's Party and a philanthropist/ activist for women's rights in the 1940s & 1950s.

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Badu Lounge is smaller, intimate setting in Ghana that performers often use to connect with the audience. Named after Erykah Badu, the space is surrounded with pictures of her.

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Ghana Hip-Hop Festival Celebrates Local Take on American Music

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At the age of 49, Gloria Amon Nikoi became Ghana’s first female Foreign Minister under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. She was also the first woman to hold the position of Chairperson of the Council of the Ghana Stock Exchange.

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Gloria Amon Nikoi; Ghana's first female minister of ...

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This butterfly was drawn by award winning artist, Moh Awudu, an Accra native.
IG: mohawudu

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Also a sociable venue, The Piano Bar serves as a platform for upcoming artists to be discovered. If producers are looking for new sounds/ artists, this is the place.

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This piece of graffiti art was drawn by Wil Quartz, Tema native, for the annual Chalewote Street Art Festival.

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The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana) is a non-profit organization committed to protecting the rights of women and children in Ghana. FIDA-Ghana also holds the government of Ghana responsible for its obligations towards the implementation of all laws, particularly those that affect women, children and the vulnerable in Ghana.

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The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana) is a non-profit nonpartisan organization committed to addressing discriminatory practices and promoting and protecting the rights of women and children in Ghana. FIDA-Ghana also holds the government of Ghana responsible to its obligations towards the implementation of all laws, particularly those that affect women, children and the vulnerable in Ghana.

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Ghana is one of the most popular countries in Africa. About 80 languages are spoken within Ghana, the country's capital is Accra, and they were liberated from UK rule in 1970.

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United Nations Development Program (Ghana)

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United Nations Development Program (Ghana)

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UNDP has made gender equality in agriculture and education central to its work for the past 20 years, as well as bringing forth awareness to sexual assault and exploitation in women and girls.

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Ending all discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, it's crucial for sustainable future; it's proven that empowering women and girls helps economic growth and development.

UNDP has made gender equality central to its work and we've seen remarkable progress in the past 20 years. There are more girls in school now compared to 15 years ago, and most regions have reached gender parity in primary education.

But although there are more women than ever in the labour market, there are still large inequalities in some regions, with women systematically denied the same work rights as men. Sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public office all remain huge barriers. Climate change and disasters continue to have a disproportionate effect on women and children, as do conflict and migration.

It is vital to give women equal rights land and property, sexual and reproductive health, and to technology and the internet. Today there are more women in public office than ever before, but encouraging more women leaders will help achieve greater gender equality.

77 cents

Women earn only 77 cents for every dollar that men get for the same work.

1 in 3

35 percent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence.

13%

Women represent just 13 percent of agricultural landholders.

750 million

Almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday.

2 of 3

Two thirds of developing countries have achieved gender parity in primary education.

24%

Only 24 percent of national parliamentarians were women as of November 2018, a small increase from 11.3 percent in 1995.

End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation

Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation

Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate

Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life

Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

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© 2022 United Nations Development Programme

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Ending all discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, it's crucial for sustainable future; it's proven that empowering women and girls helps economic growth and development. UNDP has made gender equality central to its work and we've seen remarkable progress in the past 20 years.

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The most popular food in Ghana is Waakye, Ghanian rice & beans. Other popular foods include Jollof rice and Banku & Tilapia.

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Ghanaian currency is called "cedi" or GHC. One dollar in American currency is $7.54 in Ghanian currency.

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Afrochella is one of the biggest music events in Ghana. The Afrochella foundation targets the rise of upcoming artists and community initiatives geared toward development and improvement.

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Kwesi is one of the most influential artists of his generation. He is the youngest Ghanian artist to receive a BET award nomination and is admired for his music platform, Ground Up Chale, which harbors young talent across Ghana and gives people access to studio time and support.

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I'm with Kwesi Arthur headed to a local gas station in Accra before his set at Afrochella, one of Ghana's biggest music festivals. We link up with a gang of bikers doing wheelies with four wheelers and dirt bikes. All the attention is on Kwesi as he catches up with the bikers like old friends. This almost feels like North Philadelphia.

While most artists start a festival set by simply walking on stage, Kwesi is committed to giving his fans something special. He and the group of 10 bikers enter the event gates to head straight to the stage pit and into the festival. People greet him and immediately flock, from fans to friends, before he starts his set with his latest release, "African Girl."

The crowd screams in excitement and sings the lyrics word for word although the song was only released a few weeks prior, an illustration of Kwesi's immense impact on Ghanaian youth culture.

While hip-hop has been long associated with its roots in America, there is a new class of African artists participating in the genre. Leading this new wave is 24-year-old musician Kwesi Arthur, a hip-hop and afrobeats recording artist from Tema, Ghana.

Kwesi is currently the youngest Ghanaian to have a BET nomination-in the viewer's choice category for Best New International Act in 2018. He exploded onto Ghana's rap scene in 2016 with the bass-heavy trap anthem "Grind Day" which, two years later, won Hip-Hop Song of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards for its remix with Sarkodie. He has since them released Afro-swing tracks like "Anthem" and records like "African Girl" that explore afro-fusion sounds. Kwesi raps in both Twi and English and, in many ways, uses his music as a vessel to tell the tales of what other young Ghanaians face.

Kwesi was discovered through the Tema-based music platform Ground Up Chale, which harbors young talent across Ghana and gives people access to studio time and support. "Ground Up is my foundation," he says. "Ground Up helped develop my talent as an artist. Ground Up is about elevating. Most of the artists in Ghana are from Tema. In Tema you're given the freedom to express yourself in whatever way you find comfortable."

While hip-hop doesn't get the same level of support in Africa as afrobeats, Kwesi believes there's a space in which both can coexist and support each other. "I started off rapping more," he says. "At some point I realized I could sing, and express myself through melodies. So that's when I started doing more of the singing. I think it's just boils down to my story and how I want to tell it. So, if maybe a melody would best get my story out there, then I express myself in melodies. So it's just my talent, I can't let it go to waste. I have to make good use of it."

Kwesi understands that his story and his approach to hip-hop are different from other rappers' but believes people should welcome diversity in the genre. When touching on the difference between hip-hop in Africa and America, he says "With hip-hop in Africa, it's deeper here because we talk about so many things. The hip-hop most people are used to talks about guns, about ice, but here in Africa, I don't know anyone who has those, you get me? So here we tend to talk about our story and express ourselves. Like what we're goin' through. That's what makes it unique, our story's different from the world."

In many ways, Kwesi sees how the internet has played a major role in exporting African music globally. "I know the internet has made everything close-it has made the world very small. So now anything we do someone out there can see. They see what we're doing so we really have to up our game. But I still keep it lighthearted, speak my truth, do what I love." When asked if it's rather 'Africa to the world' or 'the world to Africa,' Kwesi's response is "The world to Africa, like Africa has so much to offer. So I think the world should be ready for Africans. And we'll bring the world to Africa. That's one thing about Africa. We always keep creating new things. At one point there was Azonto and that came to shaku shaku. Africa keeps recreating stuff and that's not going to end. We'll always keep creating."

Kwesi is set for a big 2019 with his EP releasing in the first half of the year and performances in the U.S, U.K and across Africa. He's been in the studio with Wizkid and just dropped a song alongside Mr Eazi. While Kwesi always knew his vision was bigger than where he was in Tema four years ago, his advice to young artists coming out of Africa is to stay true to themselves and put that in their art. He said "The artist has to decide what they want to talk about. And if you speak your truth, people will definitely know that's your truth, and they're gonna feel it. People feel truth. But more artists are trying' to follow what others are doing thinking that if they speak their truth people won't relate to it as they do other stuff. But I think, just go with your instincts. Go with how you feel. They may not understand it now but one day they are gonna get it."

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Kwesi Arthur, Ghana's King of the Youth, Wants to Take African Hip-Hop Global

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I'm with Kwesi Arthur headed to a local gas station in Accra before his set at Afrochella, one of Ghana's biggest music festivals. We link up with a gang of bikers doing wheelies with four wheelers and dirt bikes. All the attention is on Kwesi as he catches up with the bikers like old friends.

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In this interview, MzVee talks about the hardships of coming back into the music industry as an independent artist.

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MzVee Speaks About The Most Challenging Thing She Has Faced In Her Career

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Award-winning Ghanaian musician, MzVee has shared the most challenging thing she has faced in her career. The DAAVI hitmaker made this known in a recent

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In an interview with Modern Ghana, Abena Rockstar opens up about dealing with the rivaling expectations of her fans and her family.