Ghanaian hip-life songs are considered as one of the other folk songs, wise sayings, proverbs, and myths which must be studied in the broader context of African culture. The connotative and denotative meanings that are derived from the songs depict the points of view of the youth who skilfully craft, perform, listen and participate in the songs to a very large extent. Hip-life musicians always try to portray their culture by using codified and pedantic language such as alliteration, imagery, metaphor, hyperbole, simile, rhythm etc. by reaching out to the youth and this should be looked at critically. In this study, some selected Hip-life songs have been translated into English language and their devices employed by Hip-life artistes analysed. The songs selected include: Lord Kenya’s songs titled “Mmoborowa”(The Downtrodden) and “Yeresom Sika” (We are Worshipping Money); Joe Fraizer’s song ‘Yaa Maame’ (Yaa’s mother); Obrafour’s songs ‘‘Odo’’(Love) and “Okukuseku” and Obour’s song ‘Bo Atentenben’ (Blow Trumpets). The conclusion revealed the role of Hip-life songs in literary studies.
Keywords: Culture, Hip-life, linguistic analysis, music and literature
