''Makaa Maka!!'' (I said it because I said it) is the debut studio album by Ghanaian rapper Reggie Rockstone, released on 1 September 1997 through his independent label, Kassa Records. It features guest appearances from Cy Lover, Sammi B, Chocolate, Kwa-Cee, Zapp Mallet, Fredi Funkstone, Nananom, and Talking Drums. It is one of the first rapped hiplife albums to be composed and sung entirety in a Ghanaian language ( Twi). The album comes after his debut EP ''Tsoo Boi'', which came out in 1996. ''Makaa Maka!!'' fuses Western-influenced

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

with traditional Ghanaian hiplife sounds, with some of the songs in the album cross-referencing older

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 ...

songs. Notable tracks of the album included "Sweetie, Sweetie", "Tsoo Boi", "Nightlife in Accra", and "Agoo". The album is co-produced by Rab Bakari and Zapp Mallet. ''Makaa Maka!!'' is one of the best selling albums in Ghana, having sold over 50,000 copies. The album reshaped Ghanaian popular music, resulting in Reggie Rockstone earning the title of "Grandpapa of Hip Life".

Background

During Rockstone's early years, he frequently travelled between the cities of

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. As a performer and trained actor, he gain fame in 1992-93 through being a member of PLZ, which was one of the top rap groups from London at the time and it included members such as Fredi Funkstone, Jay, and DJ Pogo. Sydney, a hip hop artist featured in the film ''Living the Hip Life'', goes in detail about how Reggie Rockstone came up with the album.

Lyricism and production

The album is co-produced by Rab Bakari and Zapp Mallet. ''Makaa Maka!!'' dives deep into rhythmic Akan storytelling and folklore, with other languages like English, Ga, Ewe, Hausa, and

Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...

also playing significant roles in shaping the music. This would come to be known as Hiplife. The fifth track on the album, "Makaa Maka", sets out with the rhythmic pattern of '' adowa'', a traditional drumming type and dance which is associated with the Akan people in Ghana. It is then overlaid by a classical hip hop beat that results in an additional layer in the polyrhythmic structure, providing an example to hiplife's identity as both traditionally Ghanaian and broad in its production. The eighth track on the album, "Tsoo Boi", which was re-released from his 1996 EP ''Tsoo Boi'', shows a perfect example of how songs in the genre cross-references to older

songs. The opening verse of the song is set over a hip hop beat and a simple two-measure bass line similar to

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of Hip-hop, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...

groups such as

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...

. The line, "Adwoa, Adwoa, sɛ mɛntumi anka no yie, kosɛ, kosɛ" ('Adwoa, Adwoa ame if I wasn't able to say it well, sorry, sorry'), is a reference to highlife classic "Adwoa" by A. B. Crentsil. In another line of the song, Rockstone raps "Ako te brɔfo a, me nso mete Fante/Frɛ, meyɛ Asante" ('If the parrot understands English, then I, too, speak Fante/Call, I am Asante'), which references ''Ako te brɔfo'', a song by Ghanaian guitarist George Darko originally released in 1983 which became extremely popular in Ghana and among its diaspora due to its innovative sound.

Critical reception and legacy

The album, on release, changed the landscape of Ghanaian popular music and earned Reggie Rockstone the title of "Grandpapa of Hip Life". ''Makaa Maka!!'' shown that it was cool to rap in your own dialect that doesn't have to be necessarily in English, like American rappers of the 90s.

Track listing

References

Work cited

* *

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 albums Hip-hop albums by Ghanaian artists Highlife albums