Reggie Rockstone (Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei, "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 Unite ...

") is a Ghanaian rapper. He was born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

but lived his early years in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

and Accra. He has been living in Ghana continuously since he pioneered the Hip-Life movement in 1994. He pioneered the

art and has played an important role in the development of this uniquely African genre in Ghana. He raps in Akan precisely Asante Twi and English. In 2004, Rockstone won the

Kora Award The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President ...

for the best African video and he performed in front of a 50,000-person crowd in Ghana, together with

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

. In 2006, he recorded a track with the

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

Dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

singer Beenie Man called "Chukku Chakka" (in reference to Rockstone's 1999 hit "Eye Mo De Anaa", which sampled

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pi ...

). Rockstone is featured in the 2007 documentary
Living the Hiplife
(dir. Jesse Weaver Shipley). Reggie Rockstone is the son of fashion designer Ricky "Ricci" Ossei (Saint Ossei). Reggie Rockstone attended

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school ...

. Rockstone joined Ghanaian hip hop group VVIP following the exit of Promzy in 2014.

Early life and music career

Born in the

U.K The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. on April 11, 1964, Reginald Osei aka Reggie Rockstone attached himself to the Hip Hop movement in the early 80's as a dancer. Travelling on a tri-continental basis (i.e. Accra,

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

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

), 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 of fame came in 1992-93 as 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 West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

) & DJ Pogo of the U.K. Number one hits from PLZ included "If it Aint PLZ" and an EP entitled "Build a Wall Around Your Dreams" released on an independent label called "Go For the Juggler." 1994 became the watershed or turning point in his entertainment career. The rap scene in London was not rewarding enough. He returned to Accra to encounter a whole generation of people grooving to

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed ...

s, all heavily influenced by the same elements of Hip Hop that he knew.

Recognition and music style

He used the hip hop beats with authentic phat production and lace it with true African dialect; The

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language Akan () is a Central Tano languages, Central Tano language and the principal native language of the Akan people of Ghana, spoken ...

language of Twi. It became the tool to make such butter classics as "Sweetie, Sweetie", "Tsoo Boi", "Nightlife in Accra" and "Agoo" from his debut album in 1997 entitled "Makaa! Maka!". Launched on an independent label called KASSA RECORDS that he partly owns, Rockstone has reached Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians across four continents Reggie Rockstone is credited as the pioneer 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 Unite ...

or "Kasahara music" in Ghana and like some masters of the art of hip hop, he has proclaimed his retirement and out of retirement several times. His specialty in Asante Twi. He is internationally acclaimed, with several performances throughout

, the UK,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, USA and Switzerland.

Appointments to be on judges panels

In 2013 he was selected to be a judge of the maiden edition of the Glo X Factor Africa along with

Onyeka Onwenu Onyeka Onwenu (born 31 January 1952) is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, actress, human right activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former '' X Factor'' series judge. Dubbed the "Elegant Stallion" by the Nigerian press, she is a f ...

and M.I. He was also a judge for the fifth edition of the Malta Guinness Street Dance competition in 2012.

Globacom brand ambassador

In 2009, Rockstone was one of 17 Public figures, who were outdoored by

Globacom Globacom Limited, commonly known as Glo (Global communication), is a Nigerian multinational telecommunications company founded on 29 August 2003 by Mike Adenuga. As of June 2018, the company employs more than 3,500 people worldwide. Overview ...

to endorse their brand, which was part of their preparations to roll out in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. There was an allegation that he had been dropped as an ambassador but he denied the reports.

Rockstone condoms

He introduced Rockstone

Condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of inte ...

s, which is his own brand of the contraceptive to the

ian market in August 2013. With this move, he was pitching in to the zero infection or prevalence initiative against

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

's goals.

Albums

Rockstone recorded four albums for the Kassa Records label and one for MixerPot: *''Makaa Maka'' (I Said It Because I Said It), 1997 *''Me Na Me Kae'' (I Was The One Who Said It), 1999 *''Me Ka'' (I Will Say), 2000 *''Last show'', 2004 *''Reggiestration'', 2010

Rockz Waakye

He owns a food distribution business which packages the Ghanaian dish waakye for delivery to hotels. The food is packaged in glass jars.