Living the Hiplife
(2007, 62 minutes, DigiBeta)
Friday, May 2 at 7:30pm
A film by Jesse Weaver Shipley
In 1994, rap musician “Reggie Rockstone”
Ossei returned to his native Ghana and sparked
a musical revolution. Rockstone left a successful
English-language rap career in London to record
and perform Akan-language hip hop in the clubs
and studios of Accra. What emerged was “hiplife”
– a new music combining African American
rap and engineered beats mixed with traditional
proverbial speech and urban Ghanaian highlife
rhythms and vocals. Living the Hiplife follows
Rockstone and other hiplife stars through
the corners of urban living as they create
a new hip hop culture in a postcolonial metropolis.
Post-film discussion with filmmaker Jesse
Weaver Shipley and local Senegalese hip hop
artist Baay Bia.
Baay Bia will also perform a few tunes right after the film.
About the Presenters
Jesse Weaver Shipley is a filmmaker,
artist, and scholar. He is currently Assistant
Professor of Africana Studies and Anthropology
and Director of the Africana Studies Program
at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New
York. Living the Hiplife is his first full-length
documentary film. His publications include "Visuality to Postcolonial African Politics:
A Conversation with Mohamed Saidou N'Daou"
and “The Best Tradition Goes On: Popular
Theater and Televised Soap in Neo-liberal
Ghana." Shipley is currently completing two
book manuscripts on performance in Ghana,
including Living and Preaching the Hiplife.
His awards include a Fulbright-IIE Grant Accra,
Ghana; Wenner-Gren Foundation Grant; a Residential
Fellowship at the Carter G. Woodson Institute
for African American and African Studies,
University of Virginia; and a Postdoctoral
Fellowship at the Center for Cultural Analysis,
Rutgers University.
Baay Bia is a composer and rapper who has emerged as one of the leading figures in the thriving hip hop scene in Senegal. Passionate about his country and faith, Baay Bia is deeply committed to making positive social and environmental change. He uses his voice to create compelling anthems that are quickly embraced by his fans. With hit songs regularly placing in the top of the charts in Senegal, his unique and appealing style has captured the attention of critics nationally and internationally. Combining his musical talents, honed in the traditions of the griot, with a fresh contemporary hip hop sound gives Baay Bia's music a broad appeal. Baay Bia now splits his time between Dakar, Senegal and Seattle, Washington. His fan base in America is growing quickly and his collaborative efforts with U.S. based musicians has his sound evolving in some fresh and exciting new ways.
Living the Hip Life Website
This program is made possible in part by
a grant from Humanities Washington, a state-wide
non-profit organization supported by the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the state of
Washington, and contributions from individuals
and foundations.
