Tag: Abena
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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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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