Highlife music losing prominence in Ghana due to lack of collective agenda - Rex Omar

Highlife music, a genre that originated in Ghana in the early 20th century, is gradually losing its prominence due to a lack of a collective agenda among Ghanaian music stakeholders.

This is according to highlife musician Rex Omar, who made the statement on Joy FM’s Twitter Spaces program, hosted by Kwame Dadzie.

He noted that stakeholders in the Ghanaian music industry do not think together, and organizations like MUSIGA and GHAMRO are always involved in rancour, hence there is no united agenda.

“There are no musicians who have sat down to discuss our sound and our approach." Everybody gets up, goes to the studio, and produces their thing. It’s like each one for himself, and God for us all,” Rex Omar lamented.

He, however, believes that it is not too late to create a highlife agenda, but proponents of the genre should not neglect its numerous variants while pursuing it.

“We can still create this highlife agenda if that is what we really want to do, but we should not let highlife revolve around one sound. It is dynamic,” he added.

His comments came a few days after highlife artiste Gyedu-Blay Ambolley criticized the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) for vitiating highlife.

According to him, VGMA has contributed to the slow progress of the genre by rewarding artists who sing in Twi or Fante over Dancehall or Reggae beats with top prizes.

“Today, if anyone wants to have an idea of what Ghana represents in terms of music, I bet the person will not count any highlife artiste since all the perceived big acts currently are not doing highlife,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Cultural Forum of Ghana has proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to make Highlife an intangible heritage.

This move is aimed at preserving and protecting the genre, which has influenced music across the African continent and beyond.

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