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Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a Ghanaian highlife musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. The first musician from Ghana to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, Ambolley created the musical genre Simigwa.

CAREER

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley was rather unknown outside of West Africa until Soundway Records included his seminal Simigwa-Do, which Ambolley released in 1973, on their first anthology, Ghana Soundz. Ambolley’s sound has led many to label him the ORIGINATOR of Twi Rap hiplife, the fusion of the hip hop and highlife idioms. His much younger genre colleague Reggie Rockstone was instrumental in naming and popularising the style HIPLIFE in the mid 1990s. There is no question about Ambolley´s pioneering role when, in 1973, Reggie Rockstone was a 9-year old. Ambolley stood aside AL Threats at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles.His song Simigua-do is considered the first rap in the world released in 1973 . Ambolley, Sammy Lartey and Ebo Taylor are the few musicians who envisioned a future for high-life music in the late 60s and early 70s and helped transform the genre fusing high-life, funk and jazz music.

ACHIEVEMENTS

In June 2015 Ambolley received a citation in the USA from the City Council of Philadelphia, read by Council woman ; Honorable Jannie Blackwell and Hon. Stanley J. Staughter in recognition of the musician’s contributions to Ghanaian music in the USA.

AWARDS

• Most Consistent Artist — Ghana (1980)
• Album and Song of the Year — Ghana (1990)
• Trend Music Awards — Ivory Coast (1997)
• Africa-American History Award — MWEPC, Los Angeles, CA (2001)
• Afrikan Music Award — Los Angeles, CA (2002)
• Malcom X Music Festival Award — Los Angeles, CA (2002)
• Lifetime Achievement Award — The Jazz at Drew from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA (2003)
• Congressional, Gubernatorial Certificate of Special Recognition — Congresswoman Juanita Millinder McDonald (2003)
• Best World Beat Recombinant Artist 2003 & Best World Beat Recombinant Artist 2003 L.A. Weekly nominated Ambolley for Best World Beat Recombinant Artist in 2003 and 2004