but I’m not stupid. I may be full of
myself but I’m not stupid. He’s a
new school rapper. Listen, I’m the
Godfather. I tell them this all the time
“for you to beat my record as far as
what I’ve done is concerned, you
must create a genre of music, have a
whole nation follow that and when
you’re in your 50s; you have to be
relevant. That’s when you can beat
me”. None of them is close; some of
them are already retiring. My track
record is tough to beat. I’m past my
50s but I’m in the ring with your
biggest. I’m proud of things like these.
I’m not just proud because I think I’m
the best emcee, I’m proud because I
stayed alive and took care of myself.
CM: How do you feel when
you’re being recognized for your
achievements?
RR: My humility always comes in the
way as far as this topic is concerned.
I’m humble by default; I mean it’s so
bad it comes in the way of progress
sometimes. Fame is nothing new
to me. My father was a legendary
fashion designer. I won a couple of
awards in martial arts growing up.
I’m very comfortable with who I am.
To answer your question, I do respect
the acknowledgement but I’m so
humble you wouldn’t even smell it.
CM: Would you attribute your
success and achievements to your
humility?
RR: Certainly. God even speaks of
humility and I think people gravitate
towards me because of that. In saying
all these I’m grateful to the talent God
has blessed me with.
CM: Would you also say your
father’s status in society at the time
influenced your career?
RR: Of course but in a different way.
53 | Colossium . March 2020
Anytime
they say
that, it’s
a falla-
cy. If you
ask them
when
they first
heard
the two
words
‘Hiplife’,
they go
silent. It
is true
Mahony
P was
rapping
but he
didn’t call
it ‘Maho-
nyPlife’.
Some-
one puts
meat in
between
two
breads
and calls
it a burg-
er whiles
another
person
calls it
sandwich.
My father was a wise man. Not the
typical Ghanaian – not well educated
you will say but I had two mothers
from two separate backgrounds
so essentially I grew up in a not so
typical Ghanaian home. I had an
amazing freedom during my boy
days. My father will encourage me
to do whatever I want. If I want to
do martial arts, he was there for me;
he was in fact the one who flew me
down here. Yeah, I was blessed in
that sense.
CM: Let’s go back to the beginning.
Did you envision yourself starting a
new movement when you began?
RR: At all. Back then I was part of the
PLZ group; which was like a Hip Hop
group. When I returned in 1994, I
decided to use my Pan-African sense
to do something different by mixing
the Twi with English. I had my Pan-
African spirit from my father. He
was a strong Nkrumahist. In fact
he was sponsored by the Nkrumah
government to study abroad. When
I came, Ghana was totally different;
mind you I have been rapping for
years. I came back with my partner
Freddy Funk and never wanted to
return back to the states. I linked
up with the likes of Zabb Mallet; it’s
important to note that my father
sponsored and co-signed everything.
He was the one that suggested we
don’t call it Hip Hop.
CM: So at the time all these were
going on, to you it was Hip Hop?
RR: Here’s the thing, there cannot
be Hiplife without Hip Hop. It’s rap
at the end of the day. Hip Hop is the
mother and Hiplife is the branch.
Hip Hop comes from Africa at the
end of the day.