Highlife’s future is once again on the chopping block, and this time, music producer Kwame Yeboah has stated that the genre is “dead” in Ghana.
Speaking on Hitz FM’s Showbiz Review on August 9, 2025, Kwame Yeboah said the live production of Highlife has been replaced by computer-produced sound, with many of today’s “Highlife” artistes relying on programmed beats instead of the live instruments that once gave the genre its magic.
According to him, the switch has stripped away the unique sound that made Ghana stand tall on the global music scene.
“Highlife music is dead in Ghana. Santrofi, not in Ghana. Do you understand what I mean by it’s dead in Ghana? Kuami Eugene is not a big export because the music he is doing is computer-based. If you play Santrofi’s song and you play Kuami Eugene’s song, you can hear what I mean. One of them is played with live instruments, and one of them is played with computers,” Kwame Yeboah said.
When host Kwame Dadzie questioned whether Highlife cannot be programmed on a computer, Yeboah explained that while it’s possible, it does not give the international audience anything fresh.
“Well, you can, but then again, is that AI music or what is that? What are we again? What do we have to show the world? We as Ghanaians, what do we have to show the world? Computer? What do we have that the world will value as something different? Computers are everywhere in the world. Isn’t it our instruments that we have here? So if we don’t play those instruments, how are they going to hear something different?” he questioned.
The producer noted that just as Ghanaians enjoy the unique sound of Western music, foreigners are equally fascinated by authentic Ghanaian live-instrument performances.
“We hear the music they do from there, and it sounds nicer because it’s different. And then, when they hear Wulomei and they hear other things, they think it’s amazing because they don’t hear that sound anywhere,” he added.
Kwame Yeboah claims Highlife is “dead” in Ghana, arguing that most so-called Highlife acts now make computer-produced music similar to what’s done globally , meaning we’ve lost the unique sound that once set us apart.#ShowbizReview pic.twitter.com/3T5Cc0y8G4
— Hitz 103.9 FM (@Hitz1039FM) August 8, 2025
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