Hi-life To The Rescue… Mark Okraku Mantey Anticipates Major Challenges

On April 30th, 2010, a group of ace Highlife musicians, led by music executive producer, Mark Okraku Mantey, launched the first Hi-life Festival, a 3-day packed event expected to come off during the last quarter of 2010.

According to Mark Okraku Mantey, the festival will seek to create a platform for young Hi life musicians to showcase their talent and also rejuvenate the ‘dying’ genre. The launch was sponsored by the World Bank.

The Slip Entertainment boss, Mark Okraku Mantey, who is the Head of the Planning Committee, admitted to Hi Newspaper that, they expected to face major challenges before this the laudable Hi-life Festival project “sees the light of day, especially with sponsorship considering that the committee will seek to raise some Ghc 500,000 to execute a successful event”

Another problem outlined is the fact that hi-life doesn't seem to appeal to the youth. "Most young people think hi-life is music for the old, while the average Ghanaian thinks hi-life is for the rich since it actually got its name from the fact that it used be patronized by people who were then perceived to be leaving a "higher life" back in the 50s.

“When I was growing up I did not listen to much Hi-life but I’ve now seen the essence of the genre and definitely knows the up and coming generation will one day see this light." He said.

Another Hi-life great, Rex Omar said, lack of executive instrument to support the industry legally, was a reason for the increasingly declining appeal of hi-life. "The ministry of chieftaincy and culture which is supposed to cater for us is only interested in dealing with chieftaincy issues leaving us to fend for ourselves”, he said. “I therefore appeal to the government to create a separate ministry to handle our vibrant and growing entertainment industry which should be headed not just by anybody but someone who is well-vested in the entertainment industry like Fritz Baffour who is already in parliament. If they want to be partisan, they are so many people in the arts who love partisan politics."

Hi-life music may have lost some charm but it still has a great appeal today. Kwabena Kwabena's "Donobi" and Wutah's "Kotosa" are examples. These songs have been in the system for a long time yet they are still tasty”.

And if you don’t believe this, ask Nollywood stars Dakore Egbuson and Onuma Florence, who told Hi Newspaper last weekend that they couldn’t stop listening to Nana Borro's "Aha Yede", a song with strong hi life influence.