Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a Ghanaian

highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. The first musician from Ghana and the world to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, Ambolley created the musical genre Simigwa.

Career

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley was rather unknown outside of West Africa until Soundway Records included his seminal Simigwa-Do, which Ambolley released in 1973, on their first anthology, ''Ghana Soundz''. Ambolley's sound has led many to label him the godfather of

hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Ki ...

, the fusion of hip hop and highlife idioms. Ambolley stood aside AL Threats at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles. His song "Simigua-do" is considered the first Ghanaian version of previously introduced American rap in the world released in 1973. Ambolley, Sammy Lartey and Ebo Taylor are the few musicians who envisioned a future for high-life music in the late 60s and early 70s and helped transform the genre fusing high-life,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music.

Achievements

In June 2015 Ambolley received a citation in the US from the City Council of Philadelphia, read by Councilwoman Honorable Jannie Blackwell and Hon. Stanley J. Staughter in recognition of the musician's contributions to Ghanaian music in the US.

Awards

* Most Consistent Artist — Ghana (1980) * Album and Song of the Year — Ghana (1990) * Trend Music Awards — Ivory Coast (1997) * Africa-American History Award — MWEPC, Los Angeles, CA (2001) * Afrikan Music Award — Los Angeles, CA (2002) * Malcolm X Music Festival Award — Los Angeles, CA (2002) * Lifetime Achievement Award — The Jazz at Drew from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA (2003) * Congressional, Gubernatorial Certificate of Special Recognition — Congresswoman Juanita Millinder McDonald (2003) * Best World Beat Recombinant Artist 2003 & Best World Beat Recombinant Artist 2003 L.A. Weekly nominated Ambolley for Best World Beat Recombinant Artist in 2003 and 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambolley, Gyedu-Blay Living people Ghanaian highlife musicians 21st-century Ghanaian male singers 21st-century Ghanaian singers 1947 births 20th-century Ghanaian male singers