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, 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.
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.
The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities.
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 Ga-Dangbe, Gã-Daŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana, Togo and Benin. The Ga and Dangbe people are grouped respectively as part of the Ga–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. The Ga-Dangmes are one ethnic group that lives primarily in the Greater Accra of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include Nikoi, Amon, Kotey, Kotie, Adei, Kutorkor, Oblitey, Lartey, Nortey, Aryee, Poku and Lamptey. The following are names derived from the ethnic Dangme and common among the Ningos Nartey, Tetteh, Kwei, Kweinor, Kwetey, Narteh, Narh, Dugbatey, Teye, Martey, Addo, Siaw, Saki, Amanor, Djangba. These are aligned to the ethnic Ga as well: Lomotey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okai, Bortey, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Sowah, Odoi, Ablor, Adjetey, Dodoo, Darku and Quartey.
Soul to Soul is a 1971 documentary film about the Independence Day concert held in Accra, Ghana ,on 6 March 1971. It features an array of mostly American R&B, soul, rock, and jazz musicians.
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.
King Bruce was a Ghanaian composer, band leader and musician.
Koo Nimo, baptized Daniel Amponsah is a leading folk musician of Palm wine music or Highlife music from Ghana.
Beattie Casely-Hayford was a Ghanaian engineer. He was the first director of the Ghana Arts Council, a co-founder of the Ghana National Dance Ensemble, and a director of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).
Richie Mensah, better known by his stage name Richie, is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and record producer. After producing records for several artists, Richie set up Lynx Entertainment record label and released his debut album All of Me on the label in 2008. He has since then gone on to win several awards both as a singer and record producer and is fast establishing himself as one of the biggest names in the Ghanaian music industry.
Kwame Nsiah-Apau, known by his stage name Okyeame Kwame and nicknamed Rap Doctor, is a Ghanaian musician, songwriter, creative director and entrepreneur.
Nana Kwame Ampadu was a Ghanaian musician and composer credited with numerous popular highlife tracks and he is known to have composed over 800 songs. He was also known as Adwomtofo Nyinaa Hene. Ampadu was the lead singer, chief songwriter, and founder of the "African Brothers Band". He is regarded as a pioneer of highlife music and one of the most illustrious Ghanaian musicians of the 20th century.
Jewel Ackah was a Ghanaian highlife and gospel musician. He composed the lyrics of "Arise Arise," the party anthem of the centre-left Ghanaian political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), popularly sung to the tune of the Christian hymn, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". He was dubbed by media pundits as the "Prince of Highlife".
John William Hansen popularly known as Jerry Hansen was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He was a singer, a composer, an arranger, a saxophonist and a pioneer of highlife music. He was the bandleader and founder of the Ramblers International Band. He was a founding member and the first president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).
Emmanuel Mallet popularly known as Zapp Mallet is a veteran Ghanaian recording engineer and a record producer. He is recognized as one of the pioneers of the hiplife genre that started in the early 1990s in Ghana. He is also recognized as the only recording engineer to have won the Ghana Music Awards on three consecutive occasions; 1999, 2000, 2001.
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 Gyasi (1929–2012) was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He originated the Sikyi highlife sub-genre which combined electric organ with the known highlife genres.
