Afrobeat is a music genre which 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.
Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres Jùjú, Fuji, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, Afrobeat and others. The music and dance of the African diaspora, formed to varying degrees on African musical traditions, include American music like Dixieland, the blues, jazz, old-time, and bluegrass and many Caribbean genres, such as calypso and soca. Latin American music genres such as zouk, bomba, conga, rumba, son, salsa, cumbia and samba, were founded on the music of enslaved Africans, and have in turn influenced African popular music.
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. It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional Akan music and Kpanlogo Music of the Ga people, but is played with Western instruments. Highlife is characterised by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound.
There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's cosmopolitan 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.
The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music, styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments, and songs. Little is known about the country's music history prior to European contact, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. The largest ethnic groups are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Traditional music from Nigeria and throughout Africa is almost always functional; in other words, it is performed to mark a ritual such as a wedding or funeral and not to achieve artistic goals. Although some Nigerians, especially children and the elderly, play instruments for their own amusement, solo performance is otherwise rare. Music is closely linked to agriculture, and there are restrictions on, for example, which instruments can be played during different parts of the growing season.
Benin has played an important role in the African music scene, producing one of the biggest stars to come out of the continent in Angélique Kidjo. Post-independence, the country was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene, where native folk music combined with Ghanaian highlife, French cabaret, American rock, funk and soul, and Congolese rumba. It also has a rich variety of ethnomusicological traditions.
Osibisa are a Ghanaian-English Afro Rock band, founded in London in 1969 by four expatriate West African and three Caribbean musicians. Their music is a fusion of African, rock, highlife, Caribbean, jazz rock, funk, Latin and even some traces of R&B and Prog.
Guy Warren of Ghana, also known as Kofi Ghanaba, was a Ghanaian musician, best known as the inventor of Afro-jazz — "the reuniting of African-American jazz with its African roots" — and as a member of The Tempos, alongside E. T. Mensah. He also inspired musicians such as Fela Kuti. Warren's virtuosity on the African drums earned him the appellation "The Divine Drummer". At different stages of his life, he also worked as a journalist, DJ and broadcaster.
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.
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, best known as E. T. 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.
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).
Saka Acquaye was a Ghanaian musician, playwright, sculptor and textile designer.
Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz is the fifteenth studio album by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. It was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, and released in 1973. The track "Languta" was later included in his 2004 album Still Grazing.
BANTU is a 13-piece band based in Lagos, Nigeria. Their music is a fusion of Afrofunk, Afrobeat, Highlife and Yoruba music. The group features multi-instrumentalists and singers who perform as a collective.
Paa Kow is a Ghanaian Highlife and Afro-Fusion drummer and composer.
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).
Mary Naa Amanua Dodoo, also known as Naa Amanua, is a Ghanaian Ga folklore music singer and songwriter. She was the lead female singer for Wulomei, a Ghanaian music group that was founded in 1973. Naa was the recipient of the 2018 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Honors.
Ghanaian highlife emerged in the 1980s as a mixture of West African rhythms from Europe by Black people from south and North America.
Emmanuel Kofi Nyame, best known as E.K. Nyame, was regarded as one of the "godfathers" of modern Ghanaian highlife music. He was a Ghanaian composer, guitarist, founder of E.K. band and the Akan Trio. He is noted as the pioneer of highlife songs in Akan language on concert stages.
