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Ghanaian Highlife: Its impact on music today

History

Highlife is the heart of Ghana. Cultivated in Ghana, the genesis of highlife can be dated back to the 19th century; however, it became prominent as Ghana experienced social changes through the 20th century.

Highlife was initially associated with the elites of Ghana who mingled with the British and had access to the ‘high life’ of living, regularly attending orchestras and dressing lavishly.

The characteristics of highlife music are owed to its composition of seamless vocal harmonies, which stream effortlessly on guitar stringed melodies and drums. During the colonial period, brass and ballroom bands performed on the coast, incorporating swing and jazz with instruments such as the trumpet and saxophone.

Another form of highlife was known as Palm wine music which featured more traditional and indigenous instruments and musicians often played this type in the rural parts of Ghana. Palm wine highlife took on an elaborate storytelling theme. Renowned artists of this form were Agya Koo Nimo and Kwame Mensah (known as Jacob Sam) and the Kumasi Trio. Kwame Asare is known to have recorded the first-ever highlife called Yaa Amponsah.

Between the 1960s and 70s, highlife flourished. After attaining independence in 1957, opportunities cropped up to perform and record music. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah advocated African music and wanted it to be recognised.

The government at that time invested in Ghana’s music by sending musicians abroad on scholarships to learn the rudiments of music. Bands also had the opportunity to travel and play where Nkrumah went. It truly was a vibrant time for music in Ghana.

During the 1980s, the music scene had quietened due to a military coup that enforced curfews. This caused a decline in opportunities for musicians to perform and highlighted the inadequacy of Ghana’s music royalty system. As a result, many highlife musicians faced financial difficulties.

The evolution of Highlife

The urban exodus of Ghanaians leaving their small towns to the big cities in the hopes of better work opportunities came along with more time for leisure. Dancehalls and clubs were popping up all over the cities, with highlife bands playing the latest hits. Acoustic instruments wouldn’t do justice in dance halls, so musicians played with amplifying instruments.

Stepping onto the scene in 1973, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley brought a kind of freshness to highlife as he incorporated funk, jazz and most significantly, rap with the typical highlife rhythm.

Besides the highlife sound changing within Ghana, there was a transformation by Ghanaians who migrated to Europe during the 1980s. This became popularly known as “borga” music which was a take on the German city, Hamburg.

Ghanaians also coined the term to refer to someone who has travelled abroad, dresses, or “speaks” as someone who lives abroad. These Ghanaians were making waves both abroad and in Ghana with the likes of George Darko and Daddy Lumba. This new highlife sound had funk and disco due to the advanced production with synthesised elements.

Borga highlife was groovy songs that would become the soundtracks of the hall parties to come.

As borga highlife music was flourishing abroad, it didn’t stop there. Musicians back home were still releasing hits whilst newcomers were springing up too.

As well as growing up on highlife (and hiplife), I grew up on Ghanaian gospel music too. You tend to hear the influence of highlife in most Ghanaian gospel songs. I noticed that some artists would have an original track and create either a reggae or highlife version.

….and then there was Hiplife

As highlife music was hitting the soundwaves of corners of the world, along came hiplife – a twist on highlife. Hiplife saw the incorporation of hip-hop beats and rap but with the classic highlife rhythm, especially drawing the younger generation’s attention. A household name of hiplife production is Appietus.

Now, if you have ever listened to hiplife or highlife, you are bound to have heard the producer tag “Appietus in the mix” hollered at the beginning of a song. However, props need to be given to the pioneers of hiplife production like Zapp Mallet and Jay Q. Zapp Mallet produced some of the first hiplife songs for Reggie Rockstone.

The bridge created between hiplife and highlife was strengthened where OG highlife songs were given a touch of hipness. Omanhene Pozo took the classic Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu and featured Alhaji K Frimpong himself:

Sampling

Sampling has become a popular way of keeping the past alive. Some of the most popular hiplife/highlife songs to be sampled has got to be VIP’s Ahomka Wo Mu or Mr All 4 Real a.k.a Ofori Amponsah’s Otoolege. These songs and more have been sampled by the likes of Twitch 4EVA and Wizkid.

A rare sample I came across has got to be Ebo Taylor’s Heaven that was used in Usher’s She Don’t Know. It’s clear to see how Ghanaian highlife & hiplife has impacted the music industry in Ghana and surpassed its borders.

With what can seem to be an outdated genre, Ghanaian highlife & hiplife is still prevalent in the music scene. However, it does get tiring hearing the same songs being sampled. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE a bit of Ahomka Wo Mu. But there’s so much out there yet to be explored.

Recently, producer Nxwrth has been producing highlife drill beats as he coins as ‘highdrill’, bringing something unique to the scene while keeping highlife alive.

Although these are just idle beats, I hope we get a compilation or an artist to jump on a beat because it’s refreshing to hear these classic songs that have not been sampled before being revived.

Who is still making a name of highlife?

Some legendary musicians are still with us, creating magic and mostly performing worldwide.

Familiar artists known for making highlife/hiplife to date are Kofi Kinaata, Kuami Eugene and Bisa Kdei, to name a few. You definitely hear highlife’s influence in their music although, they make it their own and switch up styles.

New era artists have also called on highlife veterans to do justice to their songs, from collabs of King Promise & Kojo Antwi to Mr Drew and Kwabena Kwabena. We are seeing highlife being rebirthed before our very eyes.

There should always be a place for traditional music

Agya Koo Nimo

How to keep highlife at the heart of Ghana?/Where do we go from here?

Highlife & hiplife music is embedded in the Ghanaian culture & it’s essential to keep that alive. With the emergence of new sounds and genres taking the music industry by storm, I’m afraid that highlife will be placed on the backburner.

A well-known adinkra symbol in Akan culture is Sankofa, meaning to go back & get in literal terms. Sankofa is typically used as a reference to learn from the past and that we can never progress in life if we don’t understand our history & where we’re coming from.

I’d like to see a radical Sankofa movement in music with game-changing innovators that know how to keep highlife alive but still bring uniqueness to the music scene.

Growing up, I found music to be a great way to stay connected to my culture, listening to the latest hits and the throwbacks. I really want the next generation to be able to have similar experiences. So perhaps my nostalgic sentiment is my drive for wanting to keep highlife alive.

Highlife has influenced the emergence of other sounds like afrobeat(s) and pop. Foreign artists use typical highlife rhythms (subconsciously and consciously) in their songs.

More Ghanaians need to push the highlife agenda and understand that it is something we can call our own. Yes, we have great Ghanaian artists doing wonders in the drill and afrobeats scene; and I’m so here for it.

It’s safe to say all genres have an evolution of sound. The 1930s highlife was different to the 80s. So I’m not expecting highlife to sound the same today as it did yesterday. It’s all well and good for me to say “we need more highlife”, but the question is, are we willing to support and push this agenda?

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