Herbyboi has extended an invitation to young Ghanaian musicians to form a united front and modify highlife music for global recognition.
The musician, who finished third in the latest edition of TV3 Ghana’s music reality show Mentor, has stated unequivocally that the modern-day Ghanaian musician can only push the indigenous sound to the world if it is revitalized and promoted by common industry minds.
When he made the call to modify highlife for the global market, the musician sat down with Doreen Avio on Accra-based HitzFm to promote his newly established music genre Afrolife.
Herbyboi stated that the old days of palm wine and ‘Amponsah’ type of highlife were enacted based on the way of life of the then generation and has gone through transitions to Borga Highlife, Makossa, we saw Ghanaian music greats making it popular around the world.
Every generation has its own type of musical dominance but it will not look good to forbid our musical patrimony.
“We cannot deny that the traditional highlife sound (palm-wine) has not been altered. We grew up listening to Daddy Lumba, Kojo Antwi, Nana Acheampon, and other great musicians who were lauded for popularizing highlife, but we could tell that their sound had been filtered from the original “. He stated
“They combined their style with some pop genres to create a distinct style to serve their generation’s audience. We can only effect change if we all do the same. We should preserve the indigenous sound by modifying it to create a distinct sound for today’s music listeners “He went on to say.
In his bid, Herbyboi suggests that a unified industry will allow the new generation to establish a trademark for the Ghanaian musical signature.
In reference to Ghana’s continental music rivals, Nigeria, he claimed that Nigerians have been able to incorporate African sounds, including highlife, to produce a distinct sound for their musical culture. He revealed that Afrobeats has now become a Nigerian musical signature and has gained global acceptance since their industry pushed it into the global market.
“Nigerians are role models for us. They have made Afrobeats a globally acceptable music style. It is well known that Afrobeats is Nigerian, and at one point, they attempted to own even highlife music. They were able to compensate for this by establishing and pursuing a common agenda to protect and promote their musical turf. We can now attest to the fact that investors continue to flood the Nigerian music landscape because they have been able to establish an identity for their music and promote it on a global scale. We can only follow in their footsteps, and by doing so, investors will be interested in this side “He stated.
Herbyboi is currently promoting his debut release, ‘Hold You Down,’ which follows Mentor XI.
The musician has proven to be one of today’s best performers in every way.
Herbyboi in an interview has revealed that he is strategically establishing himself at the global musical enclave where he’s introducing a new wave of highlife music which he calls ‘Afrolife’.
