Ghanaian Highlife Musician, Kumi Guitar, has expressed sorrow over the loss of identity of original Ghanaian Highlife.
According to him, artistes have gradually tried to replace Ghanaian Highlife with Afrobeats, which in actual fact was borne out of Highlife.
In an interview with Happy FM’s Doctar Cann on the Showbiz Xtra Show, he said: “Highlife is still growing. It is however sad that highlife is being seen as Afro.
People debate that what is highlife. There was a time Fela Kuti listened to highlife and changed it to Afrobeats. So if we want to push our highlife and call it Afrobeats and then that is sad”.
Speaking on how Highlife has evolved over the years, he noted that while the styles of various artistes such as Amakye Dede, Ofori Amponsah, among others may be different, the rudiments of Highlife still exists.
In his submission, he emphasized, “There is no genre as Afro Highlife. The Afro is a Nigerian grenre.We must not accept such a genre”.
The issue of whether Ghanaian Highlife has changed has been an ongoing discussion on the airwaves.
For example, the Board Chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO), Rex Omar in an earlier interview on Y102. 5FM’s ‘Ryse N Shyne’ expressed that the Highlife Music Industry has evolved without any plan.
He explained that we have not created a unique sound to make the Highlife stand out as Fela Kuti’s Afrobeats.
Kumi Guitar is currently promoting his new song titled ‘Sex’.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah