Ghanaian artiste Bisa Kdei has called for a deliberate and sustained effort to promote highlife music beyond Ghana’s borders, stressing the need for proper branding, industry support, and youth involvement to revive the genre.
“With highlife, I want people to know that we have something special here, not just in Ghana but beyond. We need to go outside our terrain, draw people closer, and sell it to them,” he said.
Bisa Kdei pointed out that many contemporary African sounds, particularly Afrobeats, have roots in highlife but have gained global recognition through consistent promotion and branding. He emphasised that Ghana must adopt similar strategies to reposition highlife on the international stage.
“As it stands now, Afrobeats is dominating, but highlife gave birth to it. If we are consistent and intentional about promoting our sound, we can also achieve that level of global recognition,” he stated.
He further explained that many songs produced by Ghanaian artistes today still carry elements of highlife but are often labeled under different genres, which limits the visibility of the original sound.
The artiste also highlighted the role of award schemes in shaping musical trends, calling for the introduction of more highlife-based categories to encourage young musicians to explore and invest in the genre.
“If award schemes create more categories around highlife and prioritise it, the youth will be motivated to do more highlife music and take pride in it,” he added.
Reflecting on the past, Bisa Kdei noted that Ghanaian musicians were once dominant on the African music scene, performing on major stages across the continent. However, he observed that the industry has lost some of that momentum due to a lack of proper branding and promotion.
“We used to travel and perform across Africa, and Ghanaian music was very strong. Right now, we are not packaging and promoting our music well, and we are not tagging our product properly,” he said.
He therefore called for a collective effort from industry players, including artistes, award organisers, and stakeholders, to reposition highlife as a leading African genre.
Bisa Kdei emphasised that with the right structures, consistency, and strategic promotion, highlife music can regain its prominence and compete effectively on the global stage.
Source:
opemsuo.com