'Hiplife is dead in Ghana, upcoming artistes don't want to do it' — Tinny

Dorcas Agambila 08:52 - 23 October 2025

Veteran Ghanaian rapper Nii Addo Quaynor, widely known as Tinny, has declared that the once-thriving HipLife genre has lost its spark and no longer holds relevance in today’s music landscape.

Speaking in an interview on Daybreak Hitz on October 22, 2025, the rapper reflected on how far Ghana’s music industry has come since the early days of his career. While he expressed admiration for the new generation of artistes, he lamented that HipLife, the genre that once defined Ghana’s urban sound, has faded away.

Rapper Tinny

According to Tinny, Ghana’s music industry has seen remarkable growth, with a surge of young, talented artistes shaping its future. “It’s growing, and it’s wonderful to me,” he said. “These young artistes coming up, I see great talents. Before, they used to sound alike, but now I hear diversity and different skills.”

He also praised Ghana’s current musical energy and global presence, saying, “When you talk about music in Ghana, the country is on fire. Our population compared to what we produce musically, it doesn’t even tally.”

Despite this optimism, Tinny expressed concern over the disappearance of HipLife, the genre that blended Ghanaian highlife rhythms with hip-hop influences and gave rise to stars like himself, Reggie Rockstone, and Obrafour.

“The only thing is, these days, HipLife is dead,” he said bluntly. “I don’t see any upcoming artiste being asked what they do and saying they’re into HipLife music.”

Tinny’s comments have reignited debate among fans and industry observers about whether HipLife has truly died or simply evolved into newer styles such as Afrobeats and Afro-fusion.