GHANA’S TOP 10 ROOKIE RAPPERS

The Top 10 Rookie Rappers is a list of the sensational newcomers in the music industry who have wooed listeners with their ferocious rapping capabilities, earning them a reputation as potential heavyweights of rap.

The criteria for grading the Top 10 rapping wiz kids is based on factors as emergence of artiste within not more than two calendar years mainstream, weighty content, lyrical potency, creativity and originality. It is important to note that popularity and/or initial achievements are NOT factors, even though artistes require some level of these to make the grade.

Here is the list of the Finest 10 Rap newcomers in Ghanaian music!

10) DEE MONEY

Debuting as something of a stage-escort for Hip-Hop heavyweight D-Black, the English-tongued rapper has since grown into his own personality dropping sensational verses on his own Kpokpo Body single and rocking Nigerian Ice-Prince’s Oleku official remix. A ferocious performance on the Dj Bring it Back joint alongside Chase the Ink and D-Black was enough to get the stylish lyricist a spot on the Top 10.

9)TIFFANY

Tiffany might just be Ghana’s best female rapper currently, arguably out-shining Eazy for lyrical potency and solid deliveries. The versatile rapper does it all, deep Western Hip-Hop music and of course the commercial equivalent, but there is however no denying that Tiffany always is on-point regardless of which beat she puts her voice. If there was any other female that dominates the beats better than this cat, then I have not heard her yet!

8) D-CRYME

Light skinned D-Cryme has made as much waves for his lyrics as for his good looks. Another of a new breed of rappers that combine singing with rap, the Twi-Pop icon has impressed the industry with his humor, creativity and that fusion of conversation with either someone in particular or all of us embedded within his unique lyrics and stylish delivery. If D-Cryme could not move the critics on his two-way hit singles Me ne woaa and Kill me Shy, he definitely got on the right side of their heads with his mega verse on D-Black’s Get on the Dancefloor.

7) E.L

This artiste’s rap flaws are as few as the letters of his showbiz name, and had it not been a self-preference for singing, his name would have no doubt been closer to the top of the chart. E.L does it all, metaphors, punch lines and puns and with an added ability to sing just as well as any other R&B star you should be slapping me for ranking him this low. Perhaps you could spare me on the ‘alibi’ that his better rap performances have been on the low-low, making most of his well-deserved mainstream successes for his singing and beat-producing qualities.

6) OPANKA

You know when Opanka raps you listen, a bit like the current best rapper Sarkodie, because you never know what to expect next! The difference between the two is Opanka’s rather annoying weakness for the occasional weak lyrics just to make the song rhyme. But every good rapper should have that element of surprise and the rapper has it in ten-folds, along with a verse-load of jaw-dropping punch lines, over-the top creativity and de-stressing humor lyrics when on his game.

5 JAY TOWN

The former Sprite Emcee Africa finalist deserves a spot in any rap chart merely for his dedication to drop bars much heavier than prison gates. If other rappers focus on fan appeal, Jay Town aims at scaring all other cats. And though his Guns and Roses single got a nomination at the 2010 GMA, you think he should have been actually awarded for Best Rap performance. Solid bars, potent flows and conscious lyrics characterize the rappers work. Only Jay Town got that much talent to make the track go…..BAM!

4) TRIGMATIC

When the 2011 Best rapper ranks fourth on a Top 10 chart list, there must obviously be something wrong. And really there is! The versatile artiste may have proven to be a good rapper but a self-caused reputation for being a rapping singer rather than a singing rapper virtually hampered the multi-talented entertainer’s chances of competing with the Top 3. Another very conscious lyricist with a knack for stand-out ethical content, these qualities have endeared Trigmatic to the fans, making his often amateur lyrics and soft bars a distant negative on the minds of music-lovers and to the anguish of his critics.

3) BRA KEVIN BEATS 

Oh Oh Kevin (mentioned like James Bond’s very famous secret code 007) may be credited with releasing the only real undiluted rap song to be relatively successful in the last two years. And boy what a song it was too, that Three Headed Beast masterpiece going on to obtain 1012 views just under a month of its release on You Tube. The song was however enough evidence to cement Kevin’s place as one of the forerunners of Ghanaian rap music, highlighting the young Mr. Beats as a fine rapper with deep lyrics, hurricane punch lines and genius thinking.

2) STAY JAY 

Might just be Ghana’s hottest rookie at the moment and well-deserves the hype for his astuteness at producing the hits- and of course the flow! The Tema-based artiste does not only churn the commercial hits but unleashes equally vicious verses unmatched by most rappers. The star gains a lot of credit for his ability to maintain his feisty bars on very commercial rhythms- and that we all know how difficult could be. The innovation in his lyrics, maturity of his flow and precision of his punch lines makes him overly worthy of a golden mention.

1) YAW SIKI

This kid looks everything like the heir to the best rapper throne! A super-rapper by many definitions, the R2Beez graduate is Ghanaian rap’s best-kept secret and his breaking through mainstream could have been earlier if he laid less value on dope bars. Everyone who heard the star while still behind the corridors of his shine would not have doubted that he was destined for greatness. Few deliver better than Yaw these days. Amazing fluidity on the lines, owns his original rapping style, plays on the beat and fixes more rhymes in a bar than anyone ever could- and it still makes sense after the work is done! If Siki’s got a weakness, then credit to him for concealing it well. Even on the very commercial Wope Do do single, Our Number One stayed on point with precocious rhythmic bars and story-telling lyrics that would have done most rappers in.