Highlife Remixed: Today's Artists Are Reimagining Classics for a New Generation (Part 1)

This week, we take a look at the remarkable ways today’s artists are breathing new life into the highlife genre, from Umu Obidigbo keeping alive a legacy to Flavour, who has people across cultures dancing to music without understanding the lyrics. We explore what it takes to reinvent a genre, honouring its soul while shaping its future. What does it mean to remix highlife?

They made an old sound compelling to a new generation, and that’s putting it simply. The depth of what they accomplished is deeper than that. But before we explore the modern, we must first pay homage to the original.

The Legacy of Highlife

Highlife is part of the West African identity. As it spread through different regions, cultural influences and other elements were incorporated. However, the core elements always remained intact, characterised by intricate guitar work, Western brass instrumentation, and jazz undertones. If you were to hear highlife from Senegal or Ghana, it would sound different from that of Nigeria, yet all share the same roots. 

Victor Uwaifo, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, and Rex Lawson were towering figures in Nigeria’s highlife scene. Even now, their music still evokes nostalgia and can only be described as rich and timeless. 

After the war, there was a notable change in the way highlife was celebrated. Most Igbo artists, such as Osadebe, E.C. Arinze, Mike Ejeagha, and others who moved to the East, retained popularity there. And so did their style and interpretation of the genre. Meanwhile, in the western parts of Nigeria, highlife began to blend with juju music, creating a new sub-genre.

Highlife As A Record Of Social And Political History

In Nigeria, the study of highlife evolution is essentially a study in Nigerian social, economic, and political history. The optimism of post-independence in the early 1960s, the post-civil war struggle in the 1970s, the economic upheaval of the 1980s, and the political instability of the 1990s. Highlife documented it all.

It was an outlet and a tool for protest and expression. Capturing frustrations, advocating reform, and chronicling life with the storytelling flair typical of most Nigerian cultures. For every chapter in the country's history, there is a highlife song that describes its impact on the people who lived through it. Think of it as Nigeria’s musical documentary archive.

Over time, other genres such as Afropop, Afrobeat, Hip-hop, and R'n'B became more popular. Notwithstanding, Highlife maintained its presence and did not fade, often finding expression in gospel music, community events, and traditional celebrations. And so this cannot even be described as a re-emergence; perhaps it is the reawakening of a genre that has always endured.

A Symbol Of Resilience 

After the civil war, people sought a sense of normalcy or a symbol of hope. Highlife music, with lyrics steeped in Igbo idioms and proverbs, provided that. Years later, this music has transcended its initial relevance and evolved into a contemporary art form.

Artists like Flavour and Umu Obiligbo are reintroducing highlife music. Their music embodies the bridge between generations, a creative dialogue between past and present. They skillfully retain the essence of Highlife but dared to enhance it with modern production.  

This is not just nostalgia; the new generations are fully backing what we can now describe as a cultural movement. Highlife is the new creative playground for artists seeking to tap into the rich musical history of Nigeria