Highlife legend Rex Omar has added his voice to the debate over categorization of nominees in the forthcoming Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA).
In a bid to resuscitate the indigenous Highlife genres, the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) Chairman has expressed his belief that dancehall act Shatta Wale, who is arguably the biggest act in Ghana, has produced some hit songs that should have been considered for the Highlife song of the year category to boost the genre.
The ‘Abiba’ hit maker told Dr. Cann on Happy FM‘s Showbiz Xtra that the young artistes have refused to associate themselves with the highlife genre because they perceive it to be old-fashioned.
“Shatta Wale has Highlife songs. Some of these songs our young artiste do are Highlife but they normally call it Afro-pop,” he stated on Happy FM.
“I think these artistes must accept such tracks as Highlife to promote our own and stop classifying it as ‘Afro-pop.”
“Entertainment players are confused of what Highlife music is, this is the time we must define what Highlife is,” Rex Omar added.
During last year’s VGMA Awards, Kofi Kinaata’s hit track ‘Confession’ emerged as Highlife song of the year, however it became a very big debate among entertainment players and Ghanaians, who believed the song did not merit the category.
In that same year, Kinaata pipped Bisa K’ dei and Becca who are known Highlife artistes to win the Highlife artiste of the year.
The debate about the VGAM genre categorization continues.
By: Eugene Baah
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