“Reggie Rockstone Walked Off a Big Deal” – Mike Cooke Recounts Untold Story

Media entrepreneur Mike Cooke joined The Big Conversation to share a jaw–dropping story of how Ghana’s early media revolution began and how hip–hop star Reggie Rockstone once walked away from a life–changing international record deal.

During the conversation, Cooke took viewers back to the early 1990s, when he began exploring opportunities to set up a radio and television network in Ghana. His journey started after meeting Talal Fattal, founder of Metro TV, through a shared passion for music and broadcasting.

At the time, Ghana was still largely analog, but Cooke had links with Sony Broadcast in London and helped introduce the first digital hybrid editing system to West Africa. Alongside Talal and a young creative named Abraham Ohene–Djan, they established Media Number One, the foundation on which Metro TV and the iconic Smash TV were later built.

But Cooke’s dream didn’t stop there. He went on to found Vibe FM, one of Ghana’s earliest private radio stations dedicated to urban youth culture, inspired by his experience with London’s underground radio scene. Vibe became the country’s go–to hub for hip–hop, R&B and emerging local sounds that would later define an entire generation.

Then came the most shocking part of his story, one that left the studio speechless.

While in London years earlier, Cooke had produced a new fusion sound he called “New Jack Jazz,” featuring Reggie Rockstone long before the birth of Hiplife. Their track caught the attention of Jive Records, which offered a major deal and a showcase at London’s famed Hippodrome, with top U.S. executives flying in to watch.

But moments before the performance, Reggie walked away.

According to Cooke, Reggie disagreed with the direction of the showcase, insisting he wanted to stay true to his underground roots instead of pursuing a commercial image. “He said if they ask us to wear pampers, we’d have to wear pampers,” Cooke recalled. “He wasn’t having it.”

The fallout was huge, the record deal collapsed and Cooke was told, “Mike, you’re not ready for the big time.”

Despite the setback, he expressed deep respect for Reggie’s decision, acknowledging that the rapper’s artistic conviction eventually shaped the birth of Ghana’s Hiplife movement, a fusion of hip–hop and highlife that defined a new era in Ghanaian music.

From smuggling digital broadcast equipment into Ghana to creating platforms like Smash TV, Metro TV and Vibe FM, Mike Cooke’s story paints a vivid picture of the pioneers who built Ghana’s media landscape from the ground up.

WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE:

https://youtu.be/8Wo3-GMsPrw