If you are tired of autotune and desire raw, lyrical, percussive storytelling, find this mix. Turn the volume to max. Roll down the car windows. And remember: Obrafour ne Lord Kenya, w’aka abotre.
For the Ghanaian diaspora, this mix is a lifeline back to Saturday mornings spent sweeping the compound while Dad blared Adane Best on Vibe FM. For the international listener, it is an entry-level course into how Ghana invented its own brand of hip-hop—distinct from Nigeria, distinct from the US.
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In 2022, the world was moving toward Amapiano and Afrobeat fusion, but deep in the underground (and the cloud), a specific artifact brought the diaspora to a standstill: .
For the uninitiated, DJ Mensah is not just a disc jockey; he is a sonic archivist. His 2022 mix became an instant cultural reset, reminding Millennials and Gen Z exactly why Hiplife remains the backbone of modern Ghanaian music. Released via digital streaming platforms (Mixcloud, Audiomack, and YouTube) in mid-2022, this mix is a 60-minute continuous journey through the golden era of Ghanaian Hiplife—roughly 1998 to 2008. Unlike modern mixes that rely on auto-sync and digital effects, DJ Mensah employs a raw, vinyl/DVS (Digital Vinyl System) approach. He scratches, chops, and blends old-school instrumentals with an energy that mirrors the chaotic joy of an Azonto street jam. If you are tired of autotune and desire
A 30-second snippet from the mix—specifically the transition between Tic Tac’s "Fefe N’efe" and Ex-Doe’s "Ododoe" —went viral on TikTok. Gen Z users created slow-motion transitions of themselves changing from school uniforms to traditional Kente cloth, using the audio. The hashtag #GHOldSkoolMix garnered over 2 million views.
By 2022, the Ghanaian music scene had been saturated with log drums and South African piano stabs. While Amapiano was fun, listeners craved percussion . Old Skool Hiplife is heavy on live drum breaks (sourced from legendary highlife records like E.T. Mensah and the Uhuru Dance Band). DJ Mensah’s mix was a detox—a return to drum kits and narrative rap. And remember: Obrafour ne Lord Kenya, w’aka abotre
If you were a teenager in Ghana during the early 2000s, your ringtone was likely a chopped snare drum over a funky highlife guitar riff. You owned a battered Nokia 3310, and your playlist consisted of dusty cassettes or CDs burned at cybercafés. The kings of that era were not international pop stars; they were Obrafour , Lord Kenya , Tinny , Kokovelli , and Sidiku Buari .