<<Print>>

Music legend Gyedu-Blay Ambolley seem to have ended the long-standing argument about who the originator of rap music in Ghana really is after describing himself to NEWS-ONE as the �tree of hiplife�. �When it comes to hiplife, I�m like the tree and the rest of them are the branches,� Ambolley stated when the paper caught up with him about the fast rising music genre in Ghana. Entertainment Pundits over the years referred to Reggie Rockstone as the grandpapa of hiplife until the he openly declared Ambolley as the real �Grandpapa� of the genre at the just-ended Glo Slide and Bounce concert. �I think it was just appropriate that Reggie came out to acknowledge me as the grandpapa of rap music in Ghana. It is called humility. He was the one who opened the eyes for Obrafour and the rest to have that idea that they could actually rap in Twi. That was more like an eye-opener for the rest to follow. I have known Reggie since he was kid because his father was my friend. He was fascinated with me at that time so we built a rapport,� the saxophonist and rapper said. Ambolley is currently working towards the launch of his new album he calls �Different Shade of Ambolley�. According to him, the album which is due to be launched on December 19, at Alliance fran�aise, features some young champs like the Wanlov the Kubolor and M3nsa on two separate tracks. �My new album is more about socialism. Currently everyone seems to be singing about girlfriends and nobody is really looking at what is going on to sing about it. The album talks about corruption, why pastors don�t go to the hospitals and heal the sick for free and all. Basically the album is just to enlighten the public,� he added. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, known as the �Simigwa Do Man�, hails from the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi, in the Western Region. The irrepressible singer, songwriter, producer and �musical-life-force� exploded on the music scene some 27 years ago with jazzy highlife sounds called �Simigwa-Do�.