The Godfather of Ghana’s hiplife wants to build ‘Africa’s McDonalds’

Sitting in his pub in Ghana’s capital Accra, 56 year old Ghanaian rapper, Reginald Yaw Asante Osei popular known as Reggie Rockstone gives a snippet of his rap talent.

Rapping about life and his desire to make an impact, Reggie Rockstone showcases his talent which never seems to fade.

He birthed the Ghanaian hiplife genre which has become very popular in recent years.

For over two decades the genre has opened up many opportunities for young people to become rappers and musicians.

Rockstone is called the Godfather of Hiplife, something that excites him when he spoke to DW in a recent interview.

“What more can I say, I have seen a whole bunch of my kids, grandkids become stars and superstars and what not. It is great to see them succeed via an ideology that I have put down as far as Hiplife.

I have done a lot and I am still here. I am still an inspiration. So this is an indication of me remaining relevant. Keep going until you die and when you die, the music still carries on,” he said.

Read also: Hiplife 3:16, The gospel according to Reggie Rockstone

Rockstone is still active producing songs but in recent years he has also ventured into entrepreneurship.

Rockstone is still active producing songs but in recent years he has also ventured into entrepreneurship.

He owns together with his wife, Zilla Limann a pub and a food business.

“I mean I own an entertainment spot, I sell food, so I take the food unto another notch. I am Pan-African so I focus on the Ghanaian dish, so while they are on the Jollof war, I am on the Waakye to settle the war,” Rockstone said.

Waakye from Ghana

The Waakye Rockstone spoke of is local dish very popular with Ghanaians. It is a mixture of rice and beans cooked together.

The delicacy can be eaten at any time of the day and served with vegetables, meat or fish and stew or hot black pepper called Shito.

When the Coronavirus forced Accra into a lockdown, the couple turned their pub outlet into a delivery point for their Waakye business.

But the food business went viral recently thanks to an innovative packaging. The couple decided to let go serving food in plastics instead adopt an eco-friendly system which is a bottle jar which can be re-used.

Zilla, Rockstone’s wife explained that “We are having a lot of rubbish and trash burden and we figured that the way to go is not to be using the one-time used thins where you throw away, causing litter, but you have a system where you can reuse a medium.

So that is how the idea was born. Studies were done, we tried it and eventually the Jar Waakye was born. So really the Jar is a transporting medium, just as you put the food in a pack, transport it, pour it out and eat.”

Ghana to the world

The couple intend expanding their Waakye food business beyond Ghana but with the unique touch of being eco-friendly.

Zilla who is a medical doctor by profession and daughter of a former President of Ghana is helping with ideas for better preservation of the food.

Rockstone is looking forward to the future with hope though.

He said “I want to be a household brand, a household brand just like McDonald but from the African standpoint. Italians got their thing with Pizza, this is it, this is Africa so, we get all kinds of foods here.

It so happens that the Jollof got popular but the Jollof is from Africa but it is from Senegal. I do eat jollof and right now the wale is soft and that Rocks Waakye to the world.”

Reggie Rockstone and his wife for now are focusing on projecting to the world the Ghanaian culture through its food and eco-friendly packing. But that won’t stop the rap music from playing.

Source: Africafeeds.com