Hiplife which is a stylist blend of Ghanaian highlife, hip pop rhythm, blues and hard core rap is running its way fast into the musical scene and we can sample eight out of ten people tapping their feet to  tunes by real soldiers of the game like Reggie Rockstone, Jay Dee, Obrafour, Nana King, Ex Doe, Buk Bak, Lord Kenya, Kwaw Kese, Obour, Samini, Tinny, Okomfour, Sidney, Tic Tac, VIP, Bandana, recently Praye and Wutah to name but a few.

But one may ask, are these Hiplife artistes really concerned about the culture of this country or just filling their pockets? Some have argued that music is a creative art and so those who created it must be allowed to express their talent in any manner they deem fit but since the work of a musician does not stay with him or her and ultimately finds its way to the public, it is only proper that some amount of decorum is applied when the work is being created.

Hiplife as we all know is a mixture of good and bad lyrics, those with good lyrics mirror the society and preach about things that go on in our daily lives; the other side of Hiplife, songs that rakes money is profanity.
 
Most hiplife artistes come out with musical lyrics on the notion that sex sells so they use profanity as their main strategy to perhaps become more popular and make more money to beat other colleagues. We see most of them on dreadlocks, others on tattoos and those who choose to be "a little calm" decides on pinning. Most of the youth usually look up to these hiplife artistes they copy their lifestyles, so if they don't carry out any good massage what will their admirers be learning then?
 
Kofi a 13 year old boy once told me he has saved enough money to get his ear pinned and had plans of growing his hair because he wanted to look exactly like Tinny and have a lot of girls around him. So if a hiplife artiste can influence a little boy in such a dangerous manner with an idea like this, then where is the Ghanaian youth heading towards? In this era of HIV/AIDS, if virtually all the songs the youth listen to are about sex, then what future leaders are we producing?

Most of them when interviewed have their own way of confusing the public. They always say things contrary to the main idea of their songs forgetting that their own siblings or friends could be the most affected. However it is worthy to note that some few hiplife artistes use good lyrics to educate society. Example is Obrafour a typical reference of a decent hiplife artiste. His "Ntitie pa" is one waving song all Ghanaians have respected and appreciated including the Vice President himself. Other hiplife artistes are therefore encouraged to follow his footsteps.
 
There must be some sort of standards for the lyrics that musicians use, their choices of language and the way they live. Composers must respect the rights of the vulnerable such as the youth and minors who can be influenced by the type of lyrics being sang.
Just making music with any word and making it available to everybody will not benefit the society and will also not help in the development of our culture. The Musician Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) should stop fighting over an industry which barely exits and rather educate the young, up and coming artistes and those who already believe they are the hiplife kings to be more conscious on the lyrics they use because music has a large impact on the society.

If possible a law that can ban bad lyrics should be promulgated to help curb indiscipline in our society. Or set up a National Music Censorship Committee who will professionally screen every song before it is released to the public. Hiplife badly needs an identity and a decent one for that matter.