Ghanaian highlife singer,songwriter and producer, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, has stated that the youth are changing our indigenous highlife music and need to switch back to our roots.
In a one-on-one with Foster Romanus on e.Tv Ghana’s Late Nite Celebrity Show, he said, ‘’I think their style is taking us away from our roots, and the indigenous style of music that we have is being swayed away. If you listen to the style of music that they play, apart from the basic aspect of it with the systemic tapping beat, you only hear singing from beginning to end but music is arrangements.’’
He furthered, ‘’ You need to have variations; introduction, where the solo comes in, where instrumentation comes in and all that. Humans get bored easily so you need to instigate them with different forms of rhythm, which the young ones don’t have.’’
The highlife legend added that the younger ones are capitalizing on beats from the computers which are made by the whites hence is made from beats they feel is good and not from the indigeneity of Ghanaian highlife.
He shared an instance of when Malian afro-pop singer, Salif Keita came to Ghana looking for highlife acts and left in disappointment because he could not find what exactly he was looking for.
When asked whose fault it is that highlife is losing its roots, Gyedu-Blay opinionized that it is not entirely the fault of the young artistes but the Musicians’ Union is supposed to organize workshops and seminars where the older musicians can enlighten and pass on the Ghanaian style of highlife music to the young.
By; Maureen Dedei Quaye