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Highlife
Ghana's century-old dance band sound
Highlife is a West African dance music that took shape in Ghana in the early twentieth century, joining Akan melodic and rhythmic traditions to Western dance-band instruments. It became one of the foundational popular musics of the region and shaped much of what followed.
Origin & history
Highlife developed in coastal Ghana in the early 1900s, as brass-band and dance-band instrumentation met local Akan musical traditions.
It spread to Nigeria and across West Africa through the mid-century, and its guitar styles and horn arrangements run underneath a great deal of later West African popular music, Afrobeats included.
Notable artists
E.T. Mensah
Ghanaian bandleader often called the king of highlife, central to its dance-band era.
Where it lives
Where these artists come from
69 Highlife artists are on TimTim.Live, and 69 of them have a public hometown. Here is where they come from.
Countries
- Ghana30
- Nigeria24
- United Kingdom6
- United States3
- Benin2
- Haiti1
- Lithuania1
- Sao Tome and Principe1
- Sierra Leone1
Cities and places
- Lagos (city), Nigeria7
- Accra, Ghana4
- London, United Kingdom4
- Kumasi, Ghana3
- Abia State, Nigeria2
- Akim Oda, Ghana2
- Ashanti, Ghana2
- Ebonyi State, Nigeria2
- Edo State, Nigeria2
- Enugu State, Nigeria2
- Lagos (state), Nigeria2
- Western, Ghana2
Some of the artists
- Adekunle GoldLagos
- Aralola OlamuyiwaLagos
- Ibibio Sound MachineUnited Kingdom
- KaletaPorto-Novo
- KulioNigeria
- Orlando OwohOsogbo
- Yemi AladeAbia State
- Zak AbelLondon
- Holy BoyEbonyi State
- MugeezGhana
- OsibisaLondon
- Ebo TaylorGhana
- GyakieKumasi
- Gyedu-Blay AmbolleyGhana
- Huw Marc BennettLondon
- Uwa DivaEdo State
- KharismaLagos
- MarijataGhana
- Orlando JuliusIlesa
- Pat ThomasAshanti
- Benny MorganAkim Oda
- CEEDI3GHAccra
- Randy WestonBrooklyn
- África NegraSao Tome and Principe
Questions & Answers
What is highlife?+
Highlife is a West African dance music that began in Ghana in the early twentieth century, combining Akan musical traditions with Western dance-band instruments.
Where did highlife originate?+
In coastal Ghana, spreading from there to Nigeria and across West Africa.
How old is highlife?+
It dates to the early 1900s, which makes it one of the oldest continuously played popular music genres in West Africa.
