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Okyeame Kwame, also known as the Rap Doctor, recently shared his thoughts on the Hiplife genre’s evolution. He expressed remorse, acknowledging that artists like himself failed to preserve the genre’s essence for the younger generation in Ghana.

During a conversation with Bola Ray on Starr Chat, Okyeame Kwame admitted that Hiplife is “suffering,” contrary to those who believe it is entirely dead.

He emphasized the importance of investing in attracting the younger generation to carry the torch for Hiplife’s continuity. Okyeame Kwame revealed that he, along with other predecessors, didn’t realize the significance of passing on the genre’s legacy earlier in their careers.

“I think that for every genre to be able to stay alive, there must be a group of young people who are interested in carrying the torch to the next young generation and for hiplife we don’t have that.

“People like myself have failed the young generation completely, because when I took on the mantle of hiplife in 1996, the last thing I knew was anthropology, sociology or marketing. I didn’t know I was supposed to carry this thing upfront and give it to someone else,”he said.
He highlighted the Western model, where artists like Big Daddy Kane pass the torch to Jay Z, who then hands it over to the next generation, ensuring the genre’s vitality.

Moreover, Okyeame Kwame discussed his disloyalty to Okyeame Quophi. Despite their collaboration in the group Akyeame, he admitted to going solo and releasing songs independently. This introspective reflection sheds light on the challenges and missed opportunities in preserving and promoting Hiplife for future generations in Ghana.

Celebrated Ghanaian actress and producer, Akofa Edjeani, shared a troubling incident from her career, highlighting the prevalence of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.
During the shooting of two consecutive movies, she agreed to lower her rates upon the executive producer’s request.
However, a Nigerian director, during a shoot in Kumasi, made inappropriate advances by inviting her to his room to “watch a movie.” Akofa firmly rejected the proposition, resulting in her exclusion from the second movie.

“I remember we were shooting somewhere after Kumasi, I think. Unfortunately, the producer was a Nigerian. We were going to shoot two movies back to back. So based on that, the executive producer had begged me to bring my rates down, that because we were doing two movies he would pay a certain amount, which reluctantly I agreed to.

“Now here is the director who asked me to come to his room. I said ‘come to your room and do what?’. He said ‘to watch a movie’. I said ‘watch what movie? I mean come on, whatever you want to tell me, I don’t need to come to your room’. Apparently, he wanted something else. I said ‘like seriously?’ Are you serious?

“I didn’t go to his room and guess what, that caused me the next movie. And when I asked the executive producer he said it was the director who was casting but I said ‘you were paying me this amount because we agreed on shooting two movies’. And he said there was nothing he could do about it because it was the director that did the casting,” she shared on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z.

Despite facing such challenges, she emphasized her commitment to refusing unwarranted advances throughout her career, encouraging young women entering the industry to believe in their talents and resist such pressures.