R2BEES: Better and Better

The advent of hiplife, Ghana’s youth-friendly urban music genre in the late nineties brought with it a wealth of young and exceptionally gifted musicians.
Hiplife managed to subdue the popularity highlife had enjoyed prior to it taking off in part because it sold itself as a youthful genre, the target market highlife music failed to appeal to.
All the pioneers of hiplife needed to stay relevant was to feed off the rich rhythmic sounds of highlife, and blend it with American hiphop. It gave birth to many musicians.
Award-winning duo R2Bees fall under the hiplife umbrella, responsible for sustaining Ghana’s music scene over the last decade and half.
Made up of Paedae and Mugeez, the group is one of the oldest in the genre’s history. Two skilled individuals with unique singing and rapping abilities, they’ve persisted and become a tight unit that has gone from good to better. They’ve also gone from parading the corridors of studios in search of hits to become instant hit makers. The R2Bees brand is one most followers of hiplife respect, given how well they’ve done for themselves

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This year will perhaps be their biggest year since taking to music professionally. Following a strong start, the group saw almost all the songs off their Da Revolution II album (their second) top the charts, and securing them concerts nationwide.
It led to their winning the highest number of awards at the 2013 edition of the Ghana Music Awards including the top one - the Artiste of the Year category. Sweeping everything on the night was a possibility the bookmakers had predicted in the months leading up to the event.
Then came their first ever BET nomination in the 2013 Best African act category, an international honour worthy of the platinum-selling musicians. And even though they eventually lost out to Nigeria’s Ice Prince, the nomination was enough. For a group that only had their first major hits five years ago with I dey Mad, and Yawa Girl, the recognition from BET was an honour.
Only two other Ghanaian acts Sarkodie (who jointly won in the same category with Wizkid in 2012) and Kojo Antwi, have been nominated by the BET.
The goodwill garnered over the period has kept them going, and also led to the growth of the brand. With a solid local fan base and ever increasing international popularity, they look set to take on the world.
From the ghettos of Ghana’s foremost industrial city, Tema, they’ve managed to grow their brand into a movement that may well spawn the talent that follows in their footsteps.