Zapp Mallet coined the name “HIP-LIFE” and not Reggie – Root Eye

One of the pioneers of Hip-life and Host of TV3’s Music Music, Mr. Root Eye has confirmed that though Reggie Rockstone was the founder of Hip-life, he was not the creator of the term, hip-life.

Speaking on First Digital TV’s entertainment talk show, Cold-facts, the “Triple Threat” revealed that renowned sound engineer Zapp Mallet named the genre hip-life.

This authenticates Barima Sidney’s statement after debunking the accepted perception that Reggie Rockstone created hip-life.

He said, Zapp Mallet, after they had argued over which name to use for the genre during one of their evening studio sessions in Combine House of Music (CHM)Studio at Mataheko in Accra, suggested that the genre be named hip-life to which they all agreed with Reggie Rockstone present.

“We can only say Reggie Rockstone was the first artiste to release a hip-life album but before his coming in 1994, there were other artistes like Kwaku Tutu, Abeiku Rebeiro, Kwame Fakye, Nananom, Talking Drum, Notorious For Life(NFL) that later became Native Funk Club,” Mr. Root Eye added.

He further asked if there was no one doing hip-life before his coming, which artistes then did Reggie feature on his first album, “Maka Maka”.

Reggie must mention all these names anytime he speaks about the genre and not paint the picture that he singularly made the brand what it is today, he concluded.

source:

ghanaweb.com