The performance put up by the amateur musicians who thronged the Soul Train Nightclub, Catering Rest House, Bolgatanga, to participate in the ?Nescafe Africa Revelation (NAR)? talent hunt show left one in no doubt that hiplife is the only music genre that the youth know and love.

At the show which was the northern zonal event of NAR, contestants were expected to present the various music forms that Ghana has, but it turned out that group after group came on stage singing and rapping in the hiplife vein.

It was also interesting to observe that the large audience in the club seemed to like the contestants who could pour out the most fluent hiplife rap. And as novices in music, many of the contestants had a tough time presenting their compositions in acapella and that was where the chaff began to fall from the seeds. The judges? job thus became easier.

In all 16 groups of between two and five persons participated in the contest and at the end of three rounds, the three-man group, Malaikas won the first slot to represent the northern zone at the national finals. The second lucky group was a duo called Krabehwe.

The strength of the Maliakas was their mature lyrics and their ability to sing along their raps whereas Krabehwe depended on their high sense of style and smooth flow to grab a place in the finals.

The MC for the occasion, Kofi Okyere Darko, the smooth talking Radio Gold presenter, kept his ears close to all the lyrics that were poured out during the show and he stopped any group that sounded lewd. Contestants were judged on their personalities, attire, lyrics, voice, flow, bodily expression among other things.

The night was not only for amateur artistes. The ?chart-topper? hiplife performer Batman, was on the bill to entertain the thick crowd that patronised the show. He was not alone; Sammi B of Big Brother Africa fame was also there to do some tongue twisting ragga gigs.

Though this is the maiden edition of NAR in Ghana, the event was launched last year in some West and Central African countries. On board this year apart from Ghana are Senegal, Cote D?Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, DR Congo, Gabon, Guinea and Cameroon.

The ultimate winner from each of the participating countries will take part in a grand African contest to choose the Nescafe African Revelation 2004. The local contest is expected to be held in four more zones to select Ghana?s representative for the African Showdown.

The next event comes of tomorrow, Friday, July 30 and 31 at the Kiravi Nightclub, Kumasi. Amateur musicians in Takoradi, Ho and Accra will have their turns during the subsequent weekends.