Items12The creator’s order
  1. 1E.T. Mensah & His Tempos Band – King of HighlifeE.T. Mensah & His Tempos Band – King of HighlifeThe starting point. Trumpeter E.T. Mensah, called the King of Highlife, led the Accra dance band that defined the urban sound of the 1950s, mixing local melodies with swing and calypso. Here the melody lives in the horns rather than the guitar, with bright, singable brass lines over a light rhythm.…0
  2. 2Osibisa – WoyayaOsibisa – WoyayaOsibisa, a London band of West African and Caribbean musicians, mixed highlife with rock, and their 1971 second album is the most rock-friendly route onto this list. The title track is a gentle, chant-like anthem with a melody you can sing after one hearing, while Beautiful Seven shows the band's…0
  3. 3Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz – Sweet MotherPrince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz – Sweet MotherSweet Mother, from 1976, is one of the best-loved songs in Africa, a tribute to mothers that still fills parties decades later. Prince Nico Mbarga, of Nigerian and Cameroonian parentage, sings in pidgin English over a guitar style borrowed from Congolese rumba, so the lead guitar's bright,…0
  4. 4Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis – Guitar Boy SuperstarSir Victor Uwaifo & His Titibitis – Guitar Boy SuperstarVictor Uwaifo, a Benin City guitarist who was also a sculptor, built his own beat, ekassa, from Edo traditions. Guitar Boy, his best-known song, has a rippling, almost watery guitar melody, linked in his telling to a mermaid encounter. It is the place to start for highlife where the guitar is…0
  5. 5The Sweet Talks – The Kusum BeatThe Sweet Talks – The Kusum BeatThe Sweet Talks were one of Ghana's top bands of the 1970s, built around guitarist Smart Nkansah and singer A.B. Crentsil. Their sound mixes the old palmwine guitar style with a modern band and horns, so you get delicate guitar filigree under easy, singable vocal lines. Choose it for sunny, relaxed…0
  6. 6Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – True PhilosophyCelestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – True PhilosophyCelestine Ukwu was the philosopher of Igbo highlife, and this album, as the title suggests, is reflective rather than rowdy. Gentle guitars and soft percussion support songs that meditate on life, money and patience through proverbs, sung in a smooth, unhurried voice. Choose it when you want…0
  7. 7Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe – Kedu AmericaChief Stephen Osita Osadebe – Kedu AmericaStephen Osita Osadebe was the elder statesman of Igbo highlife, and this mid-1990s album, recorded during his time touring the United States, is one of the easiest of his records to find. The tracks are long and relaxed, with twin guitars weaving gently around his worn, conversational voice. Choose…0
  8. 8Oriental Brothers International Band – Oriental Brothers InternationalOriental Brothers International Band – Oriental Brothers InternationalThe Oriental Brothers rose after the Nigerian civil war and became the leading Igbo guitar band of the 1970s. Their sound is faster and rawer than Osadebe's, with sharp lead guitar lines answering the vocal harmonies. Choose it to hear the energetic, guitar-led highlife of eastern Nigeria, a useful…0
  9. 9Pat Thomas & Marijata – Pat Thomas Introduces MarijataPat Thomas & Marijata – Pat Thomas Introduces MarijataPat Thomas, known as the Golden Voice of Africa, teamed up with the band Marijata for this 1976 album, and it is the funkiest highlife on the list. Heavy bass, horn riffs and fuzzy guitar push towards Afrobeat, but his smooth, melodic singing keeps the songs anchored. Choose it if you like 1970s…0
  10. 10Ebo Taylor – Life StoriesEbo Taylor – Life StoriesGuitarist and arranger Ebo Taylor, from Saltpond in Ghana, wrote some of the most sophisticated highlife of the 1970s, mixing it with Afrobeat and funk. This collection gathers that period's work, and the appeal is the arranging: chiming guitar chords, tight horn charts and melodies that twist in…0