Bisa Kdei Calls For Greater Efforts To Promote Highlife Music Globally

Highlife musician Bisa Kdei has joined calls for the need to do more to promote Highlife music internationally, arguing that the genre’s limited global recognition is largely due to inadequate promotion rather than a lack of appeal.

Speaking on the Area Gang drive-time show on Pluzz 89.9 FM, Bisa Kdei recalled a conversation he had with representatives of the music streaming platform AudioMack during a visit to New York around 2016.

According to the singer, he was told that Highlife was not popular enough globally to be listed as a standalone genre and would instead have to be treated as a sub-genre after he urged the platform to include Highlife as one of its recognised music genres.

Bisa Kdei said he challenged that view, insisting that Highlife is a well-established genre whose global visibility has suffered because it has not been promoted effectively.

He said countries driving the global success of Afrobeats have an advantage because of their large populations, making it easier for them to push their music onto the international stage.

He noted that Ghana could not rely on population size alone and would need to invest more effort in promoting its own indigenous sound.

Reflecting on the conversation, Bisa Kdei said he has been advocating for greater recognition of Highlife for many years, maintaining that preserving and promoting the genre remains essential to its future.