Rex Omar is a veteran musician and a presidential staffer
Veteran musician and presidential staffer, Rex Omar, has asserted that Highlife music is far from dead.
He argued that many Highlife songs are simply being rebranded as Afrobeats because Ghanaians have failed to properly document and promote their musical heritage.
In an interview with TV3 on July 23, Rex Omar emphasised that Highlife remains vibrant, despite often being mislabeled.
He believes this repackaging under the Afrobeats umbrella stems from a lack of intentional effort by Ghanaians to preserve their musical identity.
“Highlife music can never die. I’m sure that by the close of this year, I think the UN is making Highlife a heritage genre. It falls on Ghanaians to delve into what Highlife actually is and then put emphasis on it. So, Highlife music cannot die,” Rex Omar confidently stated.
According to him, many popular songs currently classified as Afrobeats are, in fact, Highlife compositions.
He attributed this misclassification to a lack of ownership and awareness within Ghana’s music scene.
This, he explained, is precisely why initiatives like the Black Star Experience—a creative arts program promoting Ghanaian music, culture, and identity—are crucial for heritage preservation.
“Most of these songs that you hear that they call Afrobeats, most of them are Highlife,” Rex Omar clarified.
“It is sad that because we have not been intentional about it, people will play Highlife and then give it a different name. But these are some of the reasons why the Black Star Experience is there; we are going to reclaim our identity,” he said.
While acknowledging the challenges within Ghana’s creative industry, Omar encouraged Ghanaians not to be discouraged.
Instead, he urged them to find unique ways to celebrate their distinct heritage.
“We have to learn how to tell our stories our own way. We package the best of Ghana and put it out there for us. We find solutions to deal with our challenges. There is no country that doesn’t have challenges. I’m not saying that because of that, we should be complacent,” he said.
Meanwhile, you can watch GhanaWeb TV’s exclusive interview with Arathejay below:
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