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Afrobeat is a music genre that involves the combination of elements of West African musical styles such as fuji music and highlife with American jazz and later soul and funk influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting rhythms, and percussion. The term was coined in the 1960s by Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who is responsible for pioneering and popularizing the style both within and outside Nigeria.
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and western Jazz melodies. It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional Akan music and Kpanlogo Music of the Ga people, but is typically played with Western instruments. Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band and its use of the two-finger plucking guitar style that is typical of African music. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound.
There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent. The best known modern genre originating in Ghana is Highlife.So many years, Highlife was the preferred music genre until the introduction of Hiplife and many others.
Palm-wine music is a West African musical genre. It evolved among the Kru people of Liberia and Sierra Leone, who used Portuguese guitars brought by sailors, combining local melodies and rhythms with Trinidadian calypso to create a "light, easy, lilting style". It would initially work its way inland where it would adopt a more traditional style than what was played in coastal areas.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
The music of West Africa has a significant history, and its varied sounds reflect the wide range of influences from the area's regions and historical periods.
Rex Jim Lawson, known as Cardinal Rex, was a singer, trumpeter and bandleader from Buguma, Nigeria. He became one of the best-known highlife musicians of the 1960s in Africa when Cardinal and his band dominated Nigeria's highlife scene.
John Collins is a UK-born guitarist, harmonica player and percussionist who first went to Ghana as a child in 1952 for a brief period and later became involved in the West African music scene after returning to Ghana in 1969.
Emmanuel Tettey Mensah, was a Ghanaian musician who was regarded as the "King of Highlife" music. He led The Tempos, a band that toured widely in West Africa.
Koo Nimo, baptized Daniel Amponsah is a leading folk musician of Palm wine music or Highlife music from Ghana.
Philip Comi Gbeho was a Ghanaian musician, composer and teacher. He is best known for his composition of the Ghana National Anthem. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Arts Council of Ghana and was a Director of Music and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Ghana.
Jay Ghartey, also known as Kweku Gyasi Ghartey, is a Ghanaian–American music producer, singer, and songwriter based in New York City, describing his style as African Rhythm and Blues. He released his debut album Shining Gold in 2011. He is most famous for the singles "My Lady" and "Papa". He is also the co-founder and co-owner of "GH Brothers", an independent record label and production company with his brother DJ and music producer Joe Ghartey.
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.
Kojo Antwi, also known as "Mr. Music Man", is a Ghanaian Afro pop, highlife and reggae musical artist. Born Julius Kojo Antwi into a family of 13 siblings, he grew up in Darkuman a suburb of Accra. He has 22 albums to his name, with "Tom & Jerry" became one of his most popular songs in West Africa Ghana.A former Ghamro chairman
Akosua Agyapong, is a Ghanaian female highlife singer and television personality. She was honored by the organizers of 3Music Awards for her achievement in the entertainment industry in Ghana.
Edward Kofi Donkor (1942–1995) was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He was popularly referred to as Senior Eddie Donkor or Eddie Donkor Senior.
Ghanaian highlife emerged in the 1980s as a mixture of West African rhythms from Europe by Black people from south and North America. There were three forms of Ghanaian highlife:
Kwame Asare, best known as Jacob Sam, was the first to record Ghanaian highlife music and was the first highlife guitarist.
The Adaha was type of highlife that was played on flutes, fifes, and brass band drums which originated in Ghana in the 19th century and then spread across West Africa during the 1930s
Ghana's concert party theater is a known traveling theater performing in rural and urban cities with itinerant actors staging vernacular shows and a tradition of the twentieth century in West Africa.
References
- ↑ Collins, John (1989). "The Early History of West African Highlife Music". Popular Music. 8 (3): 221–230. ISSN 0261-1430.
- 1 2 "popsike.com - HIGHLIFE: CAPE COAST SUGAR BABIES HMV N- COPY - auction details". www.popsike.com. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ↑ "Ghana's Highlife Music Collection : Ghanaian Traditional Music". www.fondation-langlois.org. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ↑ "Highlife music dates as far back as 19th century- Prof. Collins". MyJoyOnline.com. 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ↑ "The story of Ghanaian highlife". 2004-09-28. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ↑ Agencies (2018-10-05). "Nigerians can't claim ownership of highlife music – don". TODAY. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ↑ "High Life – The Origin, Growth and Status". Ghana And Beyond. 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2020-08-04.