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VVIP, formerly known as VIP (Vision In Progress) is a Ghanaian Hiplife music group made up of Zeal, formerly known as Lazzy (Abdul Hamid Ibrahim), Prodigal (Joseph Nana Ofori) and Reggie Rockstone (Reginald Ossei) from Nima a suburb in Accra, Ghana

Formation

The founder of this group is actually Friction (Musah Haruna) who formed this group with a friend of his who later had to leave the group for the U.S. to finish his education. So Friction proposed the idea to four people (Promzy, Lazzy, Prodigal, Bone-later left the group) and before they knew it, the five of them were performing at ghetto parties, clubs, street festivals etc.

Friction's dog, Chicago, was also an official member of the group. You could hear the dog growling at the end of their tracks from the late 1990s. Eventually Chicago died.

Albums

In 1997, VIP presented at a street carnival. It was then that a Ghanaian television-presenter, Blakofe (aka Akua Manfo) and a radio-presenter called Michael Smith discovered the group. Blakofe became their manager, and Michael Smith gave them a contract by the name, Precise Music. In 1998, they released their first album, Bibi Baa O, they were famous all over Accra. They became the most popular Hiplife group in Ghana. In 2000, they released their second album, Ye De Aba, which was more successful than their first album. After the second album, Friction felt that it was his time to work as an individual artist and quit the group. The group now had three members (Promzy, Prodigal and Lazzy) and released a third album in 2001 called Lumbe Lumbe Lumbe with the smashing hit "Daben na Odo Beba". However the hip life group conquered the Ghana music charts with their 2003 album Ahomka Womu; their single also named "Ahomka Womu" was number one on the Ghanaian charts for over 20 weeks. VIP won five awards at the Ghana Music Awards from the hit single and the group gained international exposure after this success. Since then, the group has been touring worldwide. They are now among the most famous artists in Ghana. Promzy then later left the group to work as a solo artist but according to him he says he did not break out of the group

Following the exit of Promzy, Reggie Rockstone, known as the godfather of Ghanaian rap who back in the mid-1990s christened the new genre Hiplife, joined the group. The new group's name metamorphosed to VVIP and they have since produced smash singles like "Selfie", "Skolom" and "Dogoyaro".

Documentary

VIP have launched their 110-minute documentary, Home Grown:Hiplife in Ghana; produced and directed by the American independent filmmaker, Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi. Some artists present at the launching were Reggie Rockstone, Hashim, Tinny, Sidney, Tic Tac, Mzbel, Rab Bakari, Faze of Nigeria and other artists from Africa and the Caribbean. And to celebrate the release of Home Grown, BDNP (Boogie Down Nima Productions) is set to travel a worldwide release tour of the film in several countries including Brazil, UK, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Canada, Italy, Norway, Jamaica, and the United States.

Awards

Notable concerts

• 2003- "Hip-Life Explosion" Tour (London, Amsterdam, Sweden, Denhaag)
• 2004- Back Stars (GH National Football team) Fundraiser show for the OlympicGames in Athens (Greece)
• 2004- "Peace and Reconciliation Concerts" organized by the United Nations and Liberian Government.
• 2005- "Thank you" concerts were also organized by United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone
• 2006- "Hip-Life Invasion" Tour (The USA from New York to Los Angeles)
• 2008–present Home Grown Hiplife Documentary Tour World

References

1. Bryan, Beverly (2012-04-27). "Where We Come From: Ghana's VIP Reps Hiplife Roots Worldwide". Mtviggy. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
2. "VIP Group Splits as Promzy Goes Solo". Ghana Celebrities. 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
3. "BIOGRAPHY OF FRICTION". friction-music. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
4. "EXCLUSIVE:Ghana Music Awards 2011 full list of winnersVIP Wins Artiste Of The Year". Nigeriafilms. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
5. "Ghana Music•com™ • VIP is not parting ways – Prodigal denies rumours • TOP STORIES • NEWS". Ghana music. 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
6. "Promzy leaves VIP". Modernghana. 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
7. "Reggie Rockstone replaces Promzy of Ghana hiplife group VIP | Nigerian Entertainment Today - Nigeria's Number 1 Entertainment Daily". Thenet Nigeria. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
8. "Ghana Base dot Com | Ghana Music News | Home Grown Hip-Life Launched | news". Ghana base.
9. "Ghana Music Awards 2011 Winners: VIP Wins Artiste Of The Year..." April 10, 2011.
10. "Naturalface Wins Big At MTN 4Syte Music Video Awards 2012 + Full List Of Winners". November 18, 2012.
11. ^ "MTN 4syte Music Video Awards, 2014". Entertainment. November 17, 2014.
12. "Full list of winners for 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com.
13. ^ ghana, Michael Eli Dokosi-www blakkpepper com- (November 7, 2016). "2016 AFRIMA: VVIP takes 'Best Group' & 'Best Video' awards".
14. "Ghana Base dot Com | Ghana Music News | Agya Koo joins VIP on Europe tour | news". Ghana base.
15. "Ghana Base dot Com | Ghana Music News | VIP Performs Live In Liberia, UK | news". Ghana base.
16. "Ghana Base dot Com | Ghana Music News | Reggie Rockstone, TIC TAC, VIP, Buk Bak storm NYC | news". Ghana base.

• Ghanaian musical groups
• The Headies winners