My love for highlife music is unmatched. To be honest, I am of the opinion that music these days, cannot be compared to the music I grew up listening to. What and who did I grow up listening to? The answer is not that simple.
Hiplife was birthed in Ghana by Reggie Rockstone in the early 90s which is a combination of ‘Hip Hop and Highlife’. Hip Hop as we know originated in America whilst Highlife was birthed in Ghana somewhere in the early 1900s circa (1930s). Reggie combined traits of the already established Hip Hop at the time (in the 90s) and highlife to create a new genre called Hiplife. Some of the pioneers of this new genre apart from Reggie himself include: Lord Kenya (one of my favourite rappers), Obrafour (another fav), Akyeame (Okyeame Kofi & Okyeame Kwame), Obour, Sidney, Castro (RIP), Tinny, Samini (then Batman), Buk Bak, VIP, 4X4 among others.
Now back to my answer, I grew up listening to these guys mentioned above. The late 90s and early 2000’s was the BEST time in Ghanaian music history. Hiplife was on the rise and our music transcended the borders of Ghana including Nigeria and other African countries. This resulted in classic collaborations with Nigerian artistes such as Tic Tac’s ‘F3f3 n3 f3‘ ft Tony Tetuila (STILL A JAM), Obour’s ‘Shine Your Eye‘ ft Tic Tac & Baba Shanty, VIP’s ‘My Love‘ ft 2 Baba (then 2 Face). Apart from these collaborations, we had our own sound, rhythm, great lyrics and danceable tunes. If I start to mention them, this post will not be enough but I will go with some very popular tunes anyone who grew up in Ghana in the late 90s and early 2000s should know: Batman’s ‘Linda’, Lord Kenya’s ‘Me d)‘, Tic Tac’s ‘Philomena’, Akyeame’s ‘Mesan Aba’, Obrafour’s ‘Who Born You By Mistake’, VIP’s ‘Ahomka w) mu’, Castro’s ‘Toffee’, Mzbel’s ’16 Years’, Jay Dee’s ‘Alampan’, Batman’s ‘Linda’, Obour’s,‘Konkotibaa’, Tinny’s ‘Makola Kwakwe’ and many other HITS.
On the other side, the highlife scene was also active especially with the GREATEST to ever do it in the Ghanaian music industry; Charles Kojo Fosu popularly known as Daddy Lumba. Don’t play with this MAN! He has done it all! I mean this is someone who has 34 albums to his credit. Gospel, highlife, dancehall….and most importantly, he has a song for every life’s situation (love, heartbreak, death, celebration, throwing shade….just name it). Check his music out. You would love it! Almost every Ghanaian (both old and young) loves Daddy Lumba. Those who may say they don’t know his songs would definitely know the hit ‘Aben Waha‘ (released in 1998 but still a JAM!). Some of my personal favourite highlife artistes include Kojo Antwi, Amakye Dede, Oheneba Kissi, Daasebre Dwamena (RIP), Ofori Amponsah, KK Fosu, Dada KD among others.
I also love the ‘Burger Highlife‘ era which saw the emergence of George Darko with hits such as ‘Odo Colour’, ‘Obi Abayewaa‘ (a fav) among others. I can definitely not talk about highlife and forget to mention the legendary Osibisa who dominated Africa and the rest of the world in the 70s, 80s and 90s with hits such as ‘Welcome Home’, ‘Dance the Body Music’, ‘Sunshine Day‘ among others. I remember playing ‘Sunshine Day’ to a Hungarian buddy once and he was like ‘Oh yeah, I know this song’! And I was like yea…it’s a Ghanaian song!
Above all, one of the reasons I love highlife is not only because of the instrumentals but also the lyrics and the weight it carries – the proverbs, idiomatic expressions, story telling which you will not find in hiplife and especially music these days. The only hiplife artiste who comes to mind when it comes to richness in storytelling is ‘Okomfo Kwadee‘. Give him a listen. A GENIUS!
I will conclude by acknowledging those who made a solid contribution to the highlife genre and are no longer with us: Nana Ampadu (RIP), Alex Konadu (RIP), Akwasi Ampofo Agyei (RIP), Daasebre Dwamena (RIP – went too soon!), A. B. Crentsil (RIP), Paapa Yankson (RIP), Jewel Ackah (RIP), Nana Tuffour (RIP), Dr. Paa Bobo (RIP) Akwaboah Snr (RIP), C.K. Mann (RIP), Tommy Wiredu (RIP). And in the hiplife genre: Ronnie Coaches of Buk Bak Fame (RIP), Castro (RIP), Bak Tye (RIP), Sonni Balli (RIP), Omanhene Pozo (RIP), Michael Dwamena (RIP), Terry Bon Chaka (RIP), OJ Blaq (RIP), Ebony Reigns (RIP). May their souls rest in peace!
P.S. I am currently listening to ‘Nsadwaase’ by Alex Konadu (RIP) and ‘Enowaa Ko Hene’ by Canadoes Super Stars of Ghana Band led by Big Boy Danso. They are both fire! The instrumentals alone…..
Thank you for reading. Are you a fan of hiplife or highlife music? Who is your favourite artiste? I will follow up with a part 2 soon – focusing on the Gospel music scene.
Take care!
Gertrude says...... 