Ghana To Celebrate Highlife Music In December

Reggie Rockstone

HIGHLIFE, THE music of Ghanaian origin, has in recent years seen a decline in patronage, with fewer albums being released and a silent crippling of the ground breaking music genre.

Household names across the world such as Agya Koo Nimo, A. B. Crentsil, Paapa Yankson, Alhaji K. Frimpong and Amakye Dede now seem to be history with the advent of newer genres such as hiplife and crunk music.

Artistes such as Kwaw Kese, Sarkodie and Obrafour are but a few of the currently celebrated music artistes in Ghana. However, the music that originated in the early 1990's and has lighted the dark path of Ghana's political and social history over the years; highlife, is far from dead.

As many artistes and music producers we interviewed have attested, the sounds of the guitars and drums that characterize highlife music have often formed the base of most recently released songs in the country. As the originator of the hiplife genre, , put it, “It's good to pay homage to highlife music”.

Citi 97.3 FM, an Accra-based radio station, will once again lead the path it has been charting for over three years in maintaining and promoting the music of our birth, highlife.

Often described as the life source of highlife music in Ghana, the 'Music Of Ghanaian Origin' (MOGO) concert, an annual event organised on Farmer's Day, is a renaissance of Ghanaian musical heritage and seeks to track the transition of Ghanaian music.

It features the crème de la crème of Ghanaian musicians who helped create an identity for authentic Ghanaian music.

Past events have featured inspiring acts from artistes such as Agya Koo Nimo, the Osibisa band, George Darko, Ben Brako, Paapa Yankson, Paulina Oduro and Asabea Cropper.

This year's event will be no different with performances from Germany-based Lee Duodo, the ever green Ramblers International Band, the sensational Jewel Ackah and many others.