Daddy Lumba and Kojo Antwi are not Highlife musicians - Ambolley

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley says he does not see fellow musicians— Daddy Lumba and Kojo Antwi— as high life musicians.

According to the jazz and highlife music legend, most of the songs churned out by the two legendary musicians cannot be classified as highlife music.

He, therefore, described Daddy Lumba as a musician who sings over disco beats and Kojo Antwi, a reggae musician.

He made the revelation on Atinka TV’s Entertainment City Show during a discussion on highlife music and the way forward.

The station compiled a video of highlife musicians from the genesis of highlife till date, which also included Daddy Lumba and Kojo Antwi.

But, Ambolley has a different opinion about Lumba and Kojo Antwi’s inclusion on the list.

“In reality, Daddy Lumba is not a highlife musician, but sings in Twi to disco beats and terms it highlife while Kojo Antwi is also just a reggae musician who also sings in Twi and terms it highlife,” he said.

“Highlife beats, rhythm and back-up musicians make the genre and, therefore, if we are going to import some beats and sing some songs in Twi and term it a highlife song, then we are spoiling our genre of music,” he added.

Ambolley’s revelation comes not long after both Lumba and Kojo Antwi have trended on social media in a quest to finding out which of them is a better musician.

Over the years, Ghanaians have boxed almost all of the country’s legendary musicians into the category of highlife musicians. Ambolley’s latest revelation, however, calls for a need to relook at who a real highlife musician is.