Reggie

Reggie Rockstone came home to Accra in 1994 after rapping in London with the group PLZ and started mixing hip-hop with highlife rhythms and Twi lyrics. The sound was called hiplife, and he has been known as its godfather ever since.

Early life

He was born Reginald Yaw Asante Ossei on 11 April 1964 in the United Kingdom and spent his early years in Kumasi and Accra. His father was the fashion designer Ricci Ossei. He attended Achimota School and trained as an actor, and he danced in Accra in the early 1980s before he started rapping in 1991.

Hiplife

His debut album, Makaa Maka (1997), included "Agoo", "Tsoo Boi" and "Nightlife in Accra". It was followed by Me Na Me Kae (1999), Me Ka (2000), Last Show (2004) and Reggiestration (2010), most of them on Kassa Records, of which he is part-owner. In 2006 he recorded "Chukku Chakka" with Beenie Man, and he won a Kora Award for best African video in 2004. In 2013 he joined the group VVIP and was a judge on the first season of X Factor Africa.

Business and family

He launched a condom brand in 2013 and runs Rockz Waakye, which sells the rice-and-beans dish in glass jars. He has been married since 2001 to Dr Zilla Limann, daughter of President Hilla Limann, and they have three children.