Tag: Abena Rockstar
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Abena Rockstar: “Commas and Karma”
Abena Rockstar is a Ghanian rapper and songwriter from Kumasi. She released a debut album, the Harvest Season LP, in March 2019. The music video, “Commas and Karma”, was released last year. According to this week’s reading,Challenging Hegemonic Masculinity in Nigerian Hip Hop: An Evaluation of Gender Representation in Falz the Bahd Guy’s Moral Instruction
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HHAP Episode 50: The Mixtape Episode P. 2
This episode is our second mixtape episode. The episode features the most recent works of 23 of Africa’s fiercest lyricists. All of songs featured on this episode were released in 2018 and 2019, and features women from across Africa, and African women who reside in the Diaspora. Some of the artists are fairly well known to followers of African hip hop scenes, while others are more up & coming. Some of the artists, like Burni Aman, EJ von Lyrik, and Jean Grae have been active for two decades. Others are new to the game, and quickly making a name for themselves. They also are diverse in their styles and the languages they rap in. The artists also differ in terms of content, some of the songs offer social commentary, some are displays of braggadicio, and some are simply about having a great time. The common thread is that they all represent some of the best lyricists out today. It was important that all of the artists and songs in this episode be submitted and voted on by serious hip hop heads, people who are active in hip hop communities. So, thank you to the hip hop heads and experts who contributed to making this mixtape possible: Mikko from Planet Earth Planet Rap Ikenna aka Bionic from Rap Radio Africa Seth Markle, Associate Professor and Faculty Advisor for the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival at Trinity College in the United States Nimoh from Sauti Za Mabinti Buddha Blaze, podcaster & talent manager Xuman, Senegalese hip hop legend, pioneer, and avtivist Elom 20ce, Togolese hip hop artists and activist and founder of Arctivism Track List Sampa The Great “Final Form” from The Return (2019) (Australia/Zambia) EJ von Lyrik (with Roufaida) “Ego” (2019) (South Africa & The Netherlands /Morocco) Burni Aman & Jean Grae “Masters of the Humanverse” (2019) (Switzerland/South Africa & U.S./South Africa) Little Simz “101 FM” from Grey Area (2018) (UK/Nigeria) Isatta Sheriff “Beat Therapy Freestyle” (2019) (UK/Sierra Leone) Blaise “Hennessy Cypher” (2019) (Nigeria) L-Ness “Freestyle ‘Peers w/Bars’” (Kenya) Rouge “Rouge Freestyle on Sway” (2019) (South Africa/DRC) Xtatic “Reignition” from Tatu EP (2019) (Kenya) Abena Rockstar “Politically Incorrect” from Harvest Season (2019) (Ghana) Eva Alordiah “Solo Life” (2019) (Nigeria) Phlow “Hiphop” (2019) (Nigeria) Lauretta Yemoja “Inferno” (2019) (Nigeria) Moonaya “Il est temps” (2018) (Senegal) Mina la Voilée “Girl Power” (2019) (Senegal) Sista LB “Ji gën – Ladieme” (2019) (Senegal) OMG “Lu Ci Sa Yoon” (2019) (Senegal) Flash Marley (with Vicky R) “La Madre” (2019) (Togo) Assessa “Izangoma” from Ugogo Ep (2018) (South Africa) Kanyi Mavi “Umsindo” (2019) (South Africa) Gigi Lamayne “Winnie” from Job Woods (2019) (South Africa) Yugen Blakrok “Carbon Form” (2018) (South Africa)
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HHAP Episode 17: Abena Rockstar on Hip Hop and the Music Industry in Ghana
Abena Rockstar is a Ghanaian hip hop artist who is known for writing hard hitting, raw hip hop lyrics. She performs mostly in Twi, and is among a small group of female artists in Ghana who’s style focuses on strong hip hop lyricism. Many female artists in Ghana choose to enter into other genres, whether it be Hiplife or gospel music. The idea that women are not supposed to be hardcore hip hop lyricists is a perspective we see throughout hip hop globally. In this interview, we sat down at a local restaurant near Abena’s home in Tema, outside of Accra and talked about a lot of different topics. Abena Rockstar discusses the visibility of women in Ghanaian hip hop, the pressure to sing instead of rap, ideas of how women should behave, and her views on the category of “female rapper”. She also talks about her views on Hiplife, her participation in the “Gh Female Rappers Cypher” project, and the music industry in Ghana. In 2014, Abena Rockstar released the EP “Only Few Can Relate” and in 2017 she released the EP “MAFIA”. The songs featured in this podcast include the singles “I’m Ready”, “Abena”, and “Broke Nyass Brodas” is a commentary on male and female relationships. We have included links to her music, website, and social media profiles. Abena Rockstar was among several artists featured in the “Gh Female Rappers Cypher”. Other artists featured on the project were Eno, Esbee, Porsche, EyiRap, Xcot, Mila, and Scrach. The track can be heard at http://youtu.be/ztRX0qbOU4I Abena Rockstar’s website: http://abenarockstar.com Twitter: @AbenaRockstar Facebook: AbenaRockstar Episode Playlist :28 “Abena” 3:30 Episode intro 10:35 “Broke Nyass Brodas” 13:25 “I’m Ready” 16:17 Interview with Abena Rockstar 47:22 “Now u Know” *This episode was produced and mixed by Howard University student @Yashua7Rashad
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HHAP Episode 14: African (Women) MCs & Hip Hop Lyricists
This episode features the music of several MCs from across Africa. We depart from the interview format and bring you music from some of our favorite (women) MCs. This is essentially a mixtape of diverse female voices in African hip hop. These MCs live in different countries, seek different languages, and speak on diverse topics. In each of these songs, the artists performing deliver strong, hard hitting lyrics that are both classic hip hop and representative of African styles of hip hop. See the artists’ social media pages for more information. Additionally, some of the artists have their work on iTunes. Those links are provided. Track List Moona (Senegal) “Revolution” |https://www.facebook.com/moonamusic/ | https://www.reverbnation.com/moona OMG & Mamy Victory (Senegal) “OK” | https://www.facebook.com/omgmamyvictory/ | https://soundcloud.com/djpolthescratcheer Eve Crazy (Senegal) “Alandouti Freestyle” | https://www.facebook.com/EVECRAZYY | https://www.reverbnation.com/evecrazy Abena Rockstar (Ghana) “Abena” | https://www.facebook.com/AbenaRockstar/ | https://twitter.com/AbenaRockstar | https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/abena-rockstar/id948100755 | https://www.reverbnation.com/abenarockztar EyiRap (Ghana) “Beast in the City” | https://www.facebook.com/EyiRap/ | https://twitter.com/eyirap Pryse (Nigeria) “Na Still Woman” | https://www.facebook.com/itspryse/ | https://twitter.com/itspryse | https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/pryse/id470236867 Stosh (Tanzania) “Supa Madini” | https://www.facebook.com/fellie.stosh | https://twitter.com/stosh_fellie Tifa (Tanzania) “Emergency” | https://www.facebook.com/HIPHODIVA | https://twitter.com/TifaFlowz Xtatic (Kenya) and Devour Ke Lenyora (South Africa) “BIGH” | https://www.facebook.com/OfficialXtatic/ & https://www.facebook.com/Devour-Ke-Lenyora-203940089617127/ | https://twitter.com/DevourKeLenyora Enigma (Botswana) “Hard on Flow” | https://www.facebook.com/EnigmaTsiakoBW | https://twitter.com/267enigma | https://www.reverbnation.com/enigmabw DJ Naida (Zimbabwe) “Zvakasara” | https://www.facebook.com/DjNaida00/ | https://twitter.com/DJ_Naida | https://www.reverbnation.com/djnaida Gigi Lamayne (South Africa) “Gigi the Great” | https://www.facebook.com/Queen.Gigi.LaMayne/ | https://twitter.com/Gigi_Lamayne | https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gigi-lamayne/id925662382 Yugen Blakrok (South Africa) “Beastleague”| https://www.facebook.com/YugenBlakrok/ | https://twitter.com/YugenBlakrok | https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/yugen-blakrok/id814084117 Kanyi Mavi (South Africa) “Ingoma” | https://www.facebook.com/kanyimavi/ | https://twitter.com/Kanyi_Mavi | https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/kanyi/id535359468
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African Women and Hip Hop
One positive trend is the groups of female emcees in various countries in Africa coming together to release collaborations or cyphers. It gives female emcees the spotlight and a chance to display their skills. It also promotes unity instead of beefs between femcees. Some of these emcees are underground. Some of these emcees perform pop