Hiplife, Cultural Agency and the Youth Counter-Public in the Ghanaian Public Sphere

Abstract

In Ghana globalization is transforming society and creating a challenging urban environment for youth: high unemployment, seemingly unstoppable cultural erosion, and a harsh disparity between personal ambition and opportunities for advancement. Structural transformation has relegated youth to the margins of society. This article examines ‘hiplife’, a growing Ghanaian youth musical genre that fuses American hip hop and Ghanaian highlife, as a dynamic intersection of these trends. This article shows that hiplife forms the foundation of a distinct youth counter-public, giving youth a unique platform to project their voice into the public sphere and challenge the exclusion of the dominant adult public. Ultimately, hiplife strengthens the public sphere through the generation of public discourse. Through an examination of the hiplife movement in an economic, political and social context, this article demonstrates both the experience of socio-cultural change and the agency of youth as a force behind socio-cultural change.