New highlife artistes killing the genre – A.B Crenstil expresses worry

Legendary highlife musician Alfred Benjamin Crenstil, popularly known as A.B Crenstil, has said the new trend of self-acclaimed highlife musicians is killing the Ghanaian music genre with modern-day funky instrumentals.

A.B Crenstil claims the new highlife ‘boys’ are making the genre, which was originated in Ghana, lose its identity with different kinds of instrumentals and it must be very worrying to music lovers.

He told Accra-based Joy FM that “I am disappointed in the current trend of artistes who have taken the highlife music. A lot of foreign genres are mixed with highlife sounds nowadays, making it feel it is adopted and making not great.”

He added: “You can clearly hear the person doing funky music but the person will claim he is doing highlife music.

“These new highlife artistes are killing the highlife genre. I am very disturbed about this. The only Ghanaian keeping highlife burning is Kofi Kinaata.

“Now I listen to Kofi Kinaata and he is doing well and bringing back the highlife, which is getting lost into the system,” he added.