Crunk is a subgenre of southern hip hop that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the early to mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more nightclub-oriented subgenres. Distinguishing itself with other Southern hip hop subgenres, crunk is marked and characterized by its energetic accelerated musical tempo, club appeal, recurrent chants frequently executed in a call and response manner, multilayered synths, its pronounced reliance on resounding 808 basslines, and rudimentary musical arrangement. An archetypal crunk track frequently uses a dominant groove composed of a nuanced utilization of intricately multilayered keyboard synthesizers organized in a recurring pattern, seamlessly shifting from a lower to a higher pitch that encompasses the song's primary central rhythm, both in terms of its harmonic and melodic aspects. The main groove is then wrapped up with looped, stripped-down, and crisp 808 dance claps and manipulated snare rolls coupled and accompanied by a bassline of thumping 808 kick drums. The term "crunk" was also used throughout the 2000s as a blanket term to denote any style of Southern hip hop, a side effect of the genre's breakthrough to the mainstream. The word derives from its African-American Vernacular English past-participle form, "crunk", of the verb "to crank". It refers to being excited or high on drugs.
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 United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
VVIP, formerly known as VIP is a Ghanaian Hiplife music group made up of Zeal, formerly known as Lazzy, Prodigal and Reggie Rockstone from Nima a suburb in Accra, Ghana
Buk Bak was a Ghanaian musical group composed of Prince Bright, Isaac Shoetan and Ronny Coaches. They rapped in Ga, Twi, and Pidgin, and were the first hiplife group in Ghana to be successful with Ga lyrics.
Lynx Entertainment is a Ghanaian record label founded in 2006 by the producer and singer-songwriter Richie Mensah.
Kwame Ametepee Tsikata, known professionally as M.anifest, is a Ghanaian musician, rapper and record producer.
Jeff Tennyson Quaye, professionally known by his stage name Jay Q, is a Ghanaian musician, record producer, record executive, sound engineer, songwriter and keyboardist. He is the founder and current CEO of Q-Lex Entertainment and Jay-Qlex Recording Studio. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many musicians, including Buk Bak, VIP, Castro, Mzbel, Obrafour, Daddy Lumba, Nana Acheampong, Ofori Amponsah, Akosua Agyapong, Obuoba J. A. Adofo, Wulomei, and others. As a producer, Jay Q is credited as a key figure in the popularization of Hiplife, Highlife and Gospel. He introduced Jama (kpanlogo) into Hiplife, which became laudable and was accepted in Ghana, Africa and the rest of the World. In 2003, Jay Q won an award for Best Sound Engineer in Ghana.
Michael Owusu Addo, known professionally as Sarkodie, is a Ghanaian rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur from Tema. He started rapping at a young age and has since become a household name in the Ghanaian and Global music industry. His contributions to the Ghanaian music industry have earned him numerous accolades, including TGMA then Vodafone Ghana Music Award (VGMA) for "Artiste of the Decade". He was announced the first winner of BET's Best International Flow Artist at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards. He is also considered one of the major proponents of the Azonto genre and dance and as the most successful African rapper of all time. Due to the variety of musical genres. he can perform in, Sarkodie is referred to as a "multifaceted rapper" and frequently raps in his native language, Twi.
Prince Bright, also known as Bling Sparkles, is a Ghanaian hiplife musician. He is the sole surviving member of the Buk Bak music group after the demise of his partner Ronny Coaches.
Theophilus Tagoe, popularly known as Castro, Castro Under Fire or Castro De D’Destroyer, was a Ghanaian hiplife recording artist and musician.
Vera Hamenoo-Kpeda, better known by her stage name MzVee, is a Ghanaian singer, afropop, dancehall and R&B artiste. Her debut solo album features several hit singles including 'Borkor Borkor, 'Natural Girl' and 'Dancehall Queen'. MzVee was signed to the record label Lynx Entertainment and was the winner of the New Artiste of the Year award at the 2015 Ghana Music Awards. She parted ways with Lynx Entertainment in the year 2019. She is currently a solo artist.
Samuel Adu Frimpong, popularly known as Medikal, is a Ghanaian hip hop musician born to Portia Lamptey and James Frimpong in Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra.
Benjamin Mensah Garzy, professionally known as Mix Master Garzy, is a Ghanaian record producer, sound engineer, disc jockey and singer.
Gh hip hop, Gh rap or Ghana hip hop is a hip hop genre, subculture and art movement that developed in Ghana during the late 1990s. The hip-hop genre came into existence in Ghana through Reggie Rockstone, who is known as the hip-life father, and other notable musicians such as Jayso and Ball J. It first came to Ghana as Hiplife, where Reggie Rockstone introduced a fusion of hip-hop beats with African sounds to create a whole new genre.
Christie Quincyna Quarcoopome, known professionally as Cina Soul, is a Ghanaian singer, songwriter and performer. She was a finalist at the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Icons competition held in Accra, Ghana.
Lukeman Ekow Baidoo, who performs under the stage name Teephlow, is a Ghanaian award-winning hip hop recording artist. He was first noted at the maiden edition of the 2012 "Next Big Thing in GH Hip Hop" Talent Hunt Show. He released his debut single, The Warning, in 2014 featuring Sarkodie.
Joseph Kwame Addison, popularly known as KillBeatz, is a Ghanaian music producer and sound engineer. He is a member of music group R2bees and is also the CEO of Legacy Life Entertainment, which has signed the Ghanaian musician King Promise.
Felicia Nuna Akosua Tawiah better known by her stage name Feli Nuna is a Ghanaian rapper, singer, songwriter director and producer. She signed her first record deal as 'Felly' with Lynx entertainment in 2012 and released her first official single 'Ghana Girl Swag' but disappeared off the scene for personal reasons and later resurfaced in 2015 under Beehyve Entertainment. Under Lynx Entertainment, she released ‘Ghana Girl Swag’ with the hit single "I like am". She then resurfaced with a new rebrand as Feli Nuna in 2015 under Beehyve Entertainment her former label with 'I like Am' and has been active since then. As a performer, she has exhibited on local and international platforms including The Ghana Music Awards Nominees Concert (2016 4Syte Music Video Awards , and performed on at Coke Studio Africa , Yaws Fashion Show, Asia-Africa Youth Festival.
Osei Kwaku Vincent also known as Strongman or Strongman Burner or Strong Gee is a Ghanaian rapper. He was recognized for winning the maiden edition of the Next Big Thing in GH Rap music which was a rap competition in Ghana.
Thorsten Owusu Gyimah, popularly known as Yaw Tog, is a Ghanaian rapper who majors in drill music, known in Ghana as Asakaa. He is best known for his viral song "Sore" which featured O'Kenneth, City Boy, Reggies & Jay Bahd and also Kwesi Arthur and Stormzy on the remix produced by Chris Rich.
