BBC News

Why a West African country with a rich musical scene has such strong links to Jamaica.

The 38-year-old's golden touch has also extended to business and he owns a successful line of taxis known as Shaxi. While Mr Music Man was serenading his homeland, a young northern Ghanaian, Rocky Dawuni, of royal heritage, was beginning to make waves on the global reggae scene with the 1998 hit In Ghana. Antwi started his career in the 1970s working with reggae band Classique Handles which later changed its name to Classique Vibes. It has had plenty of struggle and strife, having experienced six military coups between the 1960s and 1980s. Reggae has been instrumental in spreading the rasta message. Afrobeats may be the dominant sound right now in Ghana, as in many other African countries, but the sounds of Jamaica can still be heard blaring through the speakers of Ghana's roadside and beach bars almost every day. If you love reggae-dancehall you ought to learn Patios," the 34-year-old musician told me. In Jamaican Patios it is: "Ah who dat bwoy weh im ah sing fi deh?" It too has been a cheerleader for Africa - singing about the beauty of the continent, boasting of its natural resources while calling for people in the diaspora to return to the motherland. It takes place in December as part of Ghana's Beyond The Return campaign - a project designed to encourage people from the diaspora to visit the country. Born in the ghettos of Ashaiman outside Accra, Stonebwoy would regularly listen to Jamaican dancehall dons like Capelton, Anthony-B and Beenie Man as a teenager - wanting to sound just like his Patios-speaking heroes. in Ghanaian Pidgin is: "Who be dat boy weh he de sing for deh?"