Celebrated highlife music legend Kwabena Kwabena dropped a new single, Kwadede, to reinforce the presence of the highlife genre in our music industry.
According to Kwabena Kwabena, no matter the evolution of the Highlife genre, the name itself should not be tempered. He said this in a sit down with Giovani Caleb on Showbiz 360 during a discussion about the dwindling presence of highlife in the music industry. To this Kwabena Kwabena said, “It’s okay to have a blend. And to have a different vibe to Highlife music. If you study the growth of highlife music, you would realise that coming through the years, it has changed, and every generation has a way of presenting the highlife genre. In the 80s, with the Daddy Lumbas, they brought the Borga Highlife. And it was still highlife. We never lost it.”
“For me, I feel that no matter what we do, we shouldn’t lose that name. And no matter what we record, we realise that we still have the base of highlife in our music every day. So I wonder why we want to shun highlife or make it look old school. Trust me, Hilife has always been here, and highlife has taken us everywhere.”
Kwabena Kwabena also mentioned that absence of industry support is killing the Ghanaian genre. He spoke about favouritism and nepotism, which has skewed the focus of stakeholders towards others. He called out his colleagues for promoting their personal interest instead of the collective interest of the industry.
The highlife musician took a hiatus to work on his album and some personal matters.
Kwabena Kwabena’s new single, Kwadede off the album, is a classic rendition of the originality of highlife music. The Famesaa Album has 17 songs on it and will be released on the 17th of October (Kwabena Kwabena’s birthday). Industry guru’s featuring on Famesaa Album include Eyfa Nokturnal, Sarkodie, Adina and Gyakie.
Follow Kwabena Kwabena on IG @kbkbmuzic.
By Grace Somuah-Annan|3news.com|Ghana