Accra to host Highlife Music Awards

The awards ceremony will take place at the National Theatre in Accra on 22 June.

The announcement was made on 29 March at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. At the venue, the president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Bice Osei Kuffour (Obour) and the body's vice-president, Bessa Simons, lauded the organisers for their contribution towards the development of the highlife music sector and the preservation of Ghana’s cultural heritage.

Simons, who is also a highlife musician, told local media that the new awards would encourage highlife musicians to become professional in terms of music production, to reach international markets. He said appreciating highlife musicians was essential because the genre had a better chance of being acknowledged by the global world.

The event hosted, among others, legendary highlife musicians such as Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Rex Omar and producer Zapp Mallet.

Mallet said the announcement of the new awards came at a time when the media and younger artists did not give the genre much attention. He gave an anecdote involving a western journalist reporting on the genre. 

“Highlife music began in Ghana but today in Nigeria, it’s the biggest thing," the journalist said. The statement seemed to have unsettled Mallet, who provided a solution: “I think we need to take our legacy back and showcase it as much as possible. I hope as we move on, we will be able to extend the awards into a highlife festival.

"Sometimes the media’s showcase is not too good. It's one-sided. It’s not everybody that wants to know what is happening today. Some people want to go back in time and refresh their memories a bit.”

Nikills World Multimedia said the list of nominees would be made public soon and voting would be done by a board of experts on highlife music.