Nana Agyeman
Veteran highlife musician Nana Agyeman has argued that there is growing number of songs today labeled as “highlife” that bear little resemblance to the style’s traditional sound and instead lean heavily into afrobeats.
Speaking in an interview with Adom TV, Mr. Agyeman emphasised that authentic highlife is defined by its distinctive instrumentation—particularly the use of lead and rhythm guitars, horn sections, and traditional drum patterns.
“True highlife music relies on the interplay of guitars and specific percussion rhythms that have evolved over decades,” he explained. “When you strip away those guitars and those drums and you start layering in R&B synths or afrobeats-style beats, you lose the very soul of highlife.”
Nana Agyeman, whose career spans more than four decades and includes collaborations with some highlife legends, expressed frustration with contemporary artists who he feels are diluting the genre.
“Many people compose songs and label them as highlife and say music is dynamic,” he said. “But if you compose a song and remove key instruments like the guitar and the drums and add R&B or afrobeats, then that is not highlife. It is afrobeats.”
The musician was equally dismissive of hybrid labels such as “afrobeats mixed with highlife,” insisting that artists must make a clear choice between genres. “If it were highlife you were doing, you wouldn’t have brought afrobeats into it,” Agyeman argued. “You can’t say it is afrobeats mixed with highlife. You have to choose.”