The Song Planner

Highlife Pop

tagStarted 1950sPeak 1960-1980Last big hit still active

Ghanaian highlife brought into pop song-form: interlocking, jangly clean-guitar lines, lilting horn sections, gentle clave-and-conga percussion and warm, conversational vocals. The groove is buoyant and swinging, the mood celebratory and storytelling, sitting between dance-band brass and intimate guitar-band intricacy with bright, major-key melodies.

History

Highlife emerged in early-20th-century Ghana, blending local osibisaba rhythms with foxtrot and brass-band horns. E.T. Mensah, the 'King of Highlife,' led the dance-band era; E.K. Nyame popularized guitar-band highlife; London's Osibisa fused it with rock. Its guitar idiom seeded Nigerian Igbo highlife and echoes through modern Afropop's guitar textures.

Defining artists

Essential listening

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Sources

  • Wikipedia: Highlife
  • NPR: Pat Thomas & Highlife
  • MasterClass: Highlife Music Guide
  • Music of Ghana (Wikipedia)