Veteran Highlife musician, Ackah Blay
Veteran Highlife musician, Ackah Blay, has urged the younger generation of musicians to embrace the fact that they are creating Highlife music, even if they label it under different genres.
Speaking in an interview with Adom TV, Ackah Blay explained that many young artistes are unknowingly composing variations of Highlife yet hesitate to associate with the genre due to misconceptions about its relevance.
“Everyone is doing Highlife. It’s like a tree with different branches and different colours of leaves, but it’s the same tree,” he said, likening the genre’s diversity to a growing, adaptable tree.
He further entreated younger musicians to avoid labelling their work as Highlife because they see it as outdated.
“The problem is that the young artistes don’t want to admit they are doing Highlife. They don’t want to call it Highlife because they think the genre is archaic,” he noted.
Ackah Blay, who identifies as a practitioner of Kudum Highlife, emphasised the genre’s richness and versatility, pointing out that it encompasses a wide range of styles including Kpanlogo, Adowa, Borborbor, and Asafo.
“It’s versatile. It has different forms… They just have to own up and say they are doing Highlife. But you hear them talking about Dancehall and Hip-Hop,” he added.
The veteran musician encouraged today’s artistes to take pride in their musical roots, stressing that acknowledging and preserving Highlife is key to sustaining Ghana’s unique musical identity.
ID/EB
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