R2Bees is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

hip hop and

hiplife Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United K ...

duo from

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most popul ...

made up of two cousins, Faisal Hakeem and Rashid Mugeez. They were nominated at the 2013 BET Awards. In March 2019, the duo released their third studio album ''Site 15''.

Career

2007–2012: ''Da Revolution'' I

R2BEES's first single, "Yawa Gal", was released in August 2008. They then went on to release "I Dey Mad", which featured Unda melodies. The song topped most Ghanaian Radio Music Charts for weeks. In 2010, R2Bees released "Kiss Your Hand" as their third single. In 2009, R2Bees released a 17-track album ''Da Revolution'' which has already released songs; ‘Yawa Girl’, I dey Mad’, ‘T.E.M.A’, ‘Kiss Your Hand’ with new songs; ‘Radio’, ‘One more Chance’ and ‘Africa’ with production from

KillBeatz Joseph Kwame Addison, popularly known as KillBeatz, is a Ghanaian music producer and sound engineer. He is a member of music group R2bees and is also the CEO of Legacy Life Entertainment, which has signed the Ghanaian musician King Promise. Li ...

(Joseph Addison) as well as guest appearances from

Wande Coal Oluwatobi Wande Ojosipe (born 18 October 1985), popularly known as Wande Coal, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Early life Wande Coal was born on 18 October 1985 in Lagos Island, Lagos state, Nigeria, to Chief Ibukun Olufunto and Omolara ...

, Sarkodie,

Samini Emmanuel Andrews Sammini (born 22 December 1981 in Accra, Ghana), known by his stage name Samini (formerly as Batman Samini), is a Ghanaian Reggae and Dance hall recording artiste from Wa, Ghana. His genre of music is a melodious mixture of h ...

Kwaw Kese Emmanuel Kofi Botwe , known by his stage name Kwaw Kese and popularly called Abodam (''craziness''), is a Ghanaian hiplife artist. Kwaw Kese is well known for his hit album ''Abodam 2007'', for which he won five awards at the 2008 edition of the ...

and a host of others.

2013–present: Da Revolution II: Refuse to be Broke

Their second studio album, ''Refuse To Be Broke – Da Revolution II'', was released on 29 March 2013. The album had guest appearances from

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), known professionally as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. A prominent figure in the modern-day Afrobeats music scene, Wizkid is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential Afri ...

Sherifa Gunu Sherifa Gunu is a Ghanaian soul musician. She was born a princess into a royal family of the Kingdom of Dagbon, in the Northern Region of Ghana. Gunu had interest in music and dance during his childhood days. Sherifa has been in various danci ...

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), popularly known by his stage name Davido, is an American-Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. His music blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop. Davido is widel ...

Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), known by the stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a Ghanaian British, Ghanaian-British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo (music), solo studio al ...

and Voicemail. The album's production was handled by KillBeatz. R2Bees released their first official single for 2014, "Lobi". The highlife influenced songs video was released on 25 September 2014.

Recognition and music style

R2Bees often sing and rap in native language

Twi Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 17-18 million speakers in total, includ ...

and

Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

. R2bees is one of the top purveyors of Ghanaian

hip pop Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes. This genre gained mainstrea ...

subgenre

, which mixes rap with sounds of hilife (African pop music) and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

. In 2012, R2Bees was featured in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

' list of "African celebrities to watch in 2013". R2Bees have performed on the same stage with international musicians such as American R&B singers

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

and

J Holiday Nahum Thorton Grymes (born November 29, 1981), better known by his stage name J. Holiday, is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. He came into prominence in 2007 with his breakthrough hit "Bed", peaking at number five on the US ''Billboar ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Da Revolution I'' (2009) *''Da Revolution II: Refuse to be Broke'' (2012) *''Omar Sterling – Victory Through Harmony (2017) *''Site 15'' (2019) *''Back 2 Basics'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

, - ,

BET Awards 2013 The 13th BET Awards were held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California on June 30, 2013. The awards ceremony recognized Americans in music, movies, sports and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Comedian and actor ...

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Ghana Music Awards

, - , rowspan="3", 2015 , rowspan="1", R2Bees , Group of the year , , - , rowspan="1", Lobi , Highlife song of the year , , - , rowspan="1", Killing me softly , Afro pop song of the year , , - , rowspan="5", 2014 , rowspan="3", R2Bees , Group of the year , , - , Hiplife/ Hip Hop Artiste of the Year , , - , Artist of the year , , - , rowspan="2", "Slow down" , Best Collaboration of the Year , , - , Vodafone Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="9", 2013 , rowspan="3", R2Bees , Artiste of the Year , , - , Hiplife/ Hip Hop Artiste of the Year , , - , Group of the Year , , - , ''Slow down'' , Best Collaboration of the Year , , - , ''Life'' , Vodafone song of the Year , , - , "Odo" , Highlife Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Bayla Trap , Hip Life/Hip Hop Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="1", Odo , Male Vocal Performance , , - , rowspan="1", Mugeez , Song Writer of the Year , , - , rowspan="3", 2011 , rowspan="2", Kiss your hand , Afro pop song of the year , , - , Collaboration of the year , , - , rowspan="1", R2Bees , Hip pop/Hiplife artist of the Year ,

The Headies

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

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2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Nigeria Entertainment Awards

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, African Artist of the Year (Non-Nigerian) ,

Selected videography

References

{{Reflist Dagbani-language singers Ghanaian musicians People from Tema Ghanaian musical groups Ghanaian rappers Ghanaian highlife musicians Ghanaian hip hop musicians