Ghana’s Highlife Finds Its Pulse on the World Stage
Under soft lighting, four young members of the Kwan Pa band weave intricate guitar lines with buoyant rhythms, delivering a live performance that sparks cheers and applause. The crowd moves as white handkerchiefs flutter above heads, revelers dance, sing along, and toast between bites of food.
“It’s like therapy,” one attendee quips, as couples glide across the floor and strangers groove together, united by a sound that has shaped Ghanaian life for generations.
That electric atmosphere has gained new significance now that Ghana’s iconic Highlife music has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list — a landmark international acknowledgment of one of West Africa’s most influential musical traditions.
UNESCO announced the decision on December 10, describing Highlife as a “monumental expression of Ghana’s musical genius, culture, and global influence,” honoring the generations who have preserved and adapted the genre since the early 20th century.
For Asah Nkansah, leader of the Kwan Pa band — whose name means “the right path” — the timing feels symbolic.
“This news is just great,” Nkansah told AFP. “If you trace the origin of Highlife music, we can trace it to September 1925. And so, this year, 2025, we are celebrating 100 years of Ghanaian Highlife music.”
At Zen Garden, that century-old tradition feels far from antiquated. The band’s palm-wine–infused Highlife sets spur spontaneous dancing, with patrons singing lyrics from memory and cheering solos late into the night.
“Highlife talks about almost everything — passion, love, social life, and more,” Nkansah says.
“Highlife music naturally has what we call content… it isn’t music for music’s sake.”
Highlife’s influence extends to Afrobeats and HipLife.
By listing Highlife as a protected cultural treasure, UNESCO’s decision is expected to elevate Ghana’s cultural profile and stimulate investment in music preservation, tourism, and the broader creative arts.
For more than a century, Highlife’s layered guitars, horn sections, and storytelling have helped shape national identity, popularized by legends like E.T. Mensah, Nana Ampadu, Paapa Yankson, A.B. Crentsil, Osibisa, Amakye Dede, and Kojo Antwi, while fueling later movements such as HipLife and Afrobeats.
Fans like Selina Doade describe it as deeply personal.
“Highlife music, for me as a Ghanaian, tells our story. It touches every facet of our society,” she told AFP.
“When you are down, when you are happy, when you need inspiration, Highlife speaks to you.”
Band leader Nkansah believes that winning over younger audiences will require creativity.
“We must actively cultivate their love for our sound,” he says. “We’ll choose the songs the young crowd enjoys, then fuse those melodies with palm-wine rhythms. In doing so, we give them a taste of Highlife.”
He rejects claims that the genre is fading. “Highlife isn’t dying, in my view. There will be peaks and troughs, but I believe we’re on the rise.”
Nationally, UNESCO officials view Highlife as living heritage rather than a relic.
“It reflects the way of life of Ghanaians,” explains Professor Osman Damba Tahidu, Secretary-General of the Ghana Commission for UNESCO. “It isn’t merely a museum piece, but a living product.”
When it comes to sports, funerals, food, and festivals, Highlife accompanies the moments that define everyday life, Tahidu adds.
Back at Zen Garden, as midnight approaches, the crowd shows no signs of leaving. Handkerchiefs wave again, laughter rises, and Highlife presses on — rooted in the past while dancing confidently toward the future.
© 2025 AFP
