Ghanaian Hi-life musician, Abiana, has addressed the prevailing tendency for Nigerian musicians to adopt Ghanaian music, recreate it and share it globally without any credit or reference.
Speaking on “The Day Show” hosted by the celebrated Berla Mundi, Abiana who was a guest alongside, Fameye delved into the challenges faced by the Ghanaian music industry, particularly the perception of highlife and its potential for international recognition.
“Some time ago, we used to say highlife was something. We were thinking about the Tictacs in Nigeria with Tony Tetula,” she shared
According to the former backing vocalist, Ghana’s culture has a profound impact on Nigerian music which has sometimes rebranded Ghanaian musical elements as their own, often with heightened success.
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She lamented the fact that Ghana, despite being the origin of these musical concepts, sometimes loses out in terms of recognition and commercial success.
“Even the Nigerians are still taking our stuff and making it much more big and naming it something else,” she disclosed.
As the dialogue unfolded on “The Day Show,” Abiana called for a collective effort to promote Ghanaian highlife to the world.
“Why then don’t we push ourselves and say highlife is our thing so let’s just call ourselves highlife musicians then the rest will follow,” she emphasized.