Ghanaian musician Mimi Andani has explained why very few women ventured into the highlife music industry.
Speaking on Onua TV, Andani revealed that women who ventured into Highlife were seen as promiscuous, and this stigma continues to cast a shadow over women in the genre today.
Andani referenced research by Professor John Collins, a renowned ethnomusicologist at the University of Ghana, which traces highlife’s roots to Osibisaba, an early 20th-century genre.
“Music, then, wasn’t really seen as something serious. Not to mention women venturing into it. When a woman ventures, she is seen as loose. So women were not encouraged to venture into it, she explained.
Despite highlife’s evolution, blending with jazz and later influencing Afrobeats, the stereotype persists, discouraging many young women from pursuing careers in the genre.
“Afrobeats is trending now, but if you look closely, highlife is in it. Yet, women still face judgment when they enter this space,” she stated.
“Mimi Andani, a versatile Ghanaian musician and former Big Brother Africa housemate (representing Ghana in Season 3), rose to prominence with her debut album Music in Me (2009), produced by Movingui Records under Empire Entertainment’s management.
Known for her genre-blending artistry, she excels in R&B, dancehall, highlife, hiplife, techno, rock, and Afropop, delivering hits like Leave Me Alone, DJ, Fa Ma Me, and Tattoo, which cemented her status as a dynamic force in Ghana’s music scene.
ID/KA
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