Castro Destroyer

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

How can you resist a guy with a name like Castro Destroyer?

I've spent a nice day looking into Hiplife music, which is a combination of Hip Hop and Highlife that has developed in recent years in Ghana. So here's a nice little video from Castro Destroyer.

Castro Destroyer's real name is Theophilus Tagoe. He also works under the names of Under Fire and Sakwabaman.

He's made two albums, so far - "Toffee" - the video is the title track - and "Back and forth". His latest album is apparently going to be Gospel. THAT should be interesting!

I've found somewhere to buy "Toffee", so watch this space!

MG

[seeline]

There's a very interesting blog titled The Hiplife Complex.

Lots of good info. there (includes many links).

Edited February 2, 2008 by seeline

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

There's a very interesting blog titled The Hiplife Complex.

Lots of good info. there.

Yes, but I'm not sure how reliable it is. There's a link to the Hiplife bluffer's guide on that page. I went through it and picked out VIP as being a likely contender based on what they'd said and found myself a few samples. I don't usually bother with samples but with a new kind of music, well. VIP aren't nearly as interesting as Castro Destroyer, who doesn't get a mention in the blog.

There's a Ghanaian on line shop in Britain which sells loads of this stuff. Has a list of 211 Hiplife albums on sale (not all in stock). $18.50 per CD to the US + postage. They're here.

http://www.ghana.co.uk/shop/index.asp

Just noticed Castro Destroyer's second album was called "Back and front".

MG

[seeline]

Well, the gent who runs The Hiplife Complex hasn't posted to the blog in over a year, so...

I have to wonder if Castro Destroyer is a calypso fan - put "Lord" in front of his other names and he'd be ready for this year's Carnival in Port-of-Spain!

There's also a fellow named King Ayisoba who's got an album available on eMusic.com, iTunes and MySpace... I like it a lot, though one of the vocalists is a bit grating (to my ears, anyway). Here's a direct link to his label's (or producer's) MySpace page.

Link to King Ayisoba's MySpace page.

[jimi089]

Wow, very interesting!

To my ears I hear some element of reggae in the syncopation and feel of the bass line, and of reggaeton/dancehall in the accents in the drums.

[seeline]

I bet you're right - with maybe a touch of soca, too? (Just a guess - I spent a lot of time recently watching soca and chutney-soca videos...)

Edit - Shurwayne Winchester is an award-winning chutney-soca artist. Here's one of his videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNe_Jq_3HR4

Edited February 3, 2008 by seeline

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I think there definitely is a West Indies connection there. Castro Destroyer, Under Fire and Sakwabaman are all the sort of names you might find Reggae toasters of the eighties using. And the similarity to soca seems there, too.

One thing I like about this stuff is, they're sampling Hip Hop beats, and turning them into something else. So Hip Hop is already old school.

MG