Ghana’s highlife Musicians

Dan Amakye Dede (born 5 January 1958) is a Ghanaian musician. He is one of Ghana’s premier high-life artists popularly referred to as “Iron Boy”, “the high-life maestro” and “Abrantie” (English: Gentleman). Amakye Dede was born in Agogo, Asante Akim. He attended Agogo Roman School. He is best known for classic songs such as: “Jealousy go shame”, “Dabi Dabi …

Nana Aboagye Dacosta is a Ghanaian musician. Biography Born in 1957 to the late Opanyin Kojo Obiri Asamoah and Madam Nana Yaa Manu in the Ashanti Region, specifically Bantam, a suburb of Kumasi, and the second child among eight siblings, he played highlife tunes for years. His parents would not permit him to become a musician, so …

Alfred Benjamin Crentsil (1943 – 13 July 2022) was a Ghanaian musician. He was one of the “big three” of contemporary Ghanaian vocalists. Crentsil won the Fontomfrom Evergreen Award, an honor bestowed upon a musician with 15–20 years of continuous music experience. He died on 13 July 2022. Family life Crentsil had eight children …

Kofi Boakye Yiadom (died February 2, 2020), known by his stage name Kofi B, was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He was known for songs such as “Mmobrowa”, “Bantama Kofi Boakye” and “Koforidua Flowers”, among others. He was inspired by the likes of Amakye Dede, Kojo Antwi and Ofori Amponsah. Education Kofi B attended Agogo State College in the Ashanti Region, but dropped …

John William Hansen (23 February 1927 – 7 April 2012) popularly known as Jerry Hansen was a Ghanaian highlife musician. He was a singer, a composer, an arranger, a saxophonist and a pioneer of highlife music. He was the bandleader and founder of the Ramblers International Band. He was a founding member and the first …

Freda Baffour Awuah (born 20 August 1993) popularly known as Freda Rhymz, is a Ghanaian rapper and songwriter from Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. She gained recognition when she entered the MTN Hitmaker Competition in 2017 and emerged as the winner of the competition. Early life and career Freda Rhymz is the last born of 6 siblings. She received his early …

Paa Kow (Enyan Denkyira, Ghana) is a Ghanaian Highlife and Afro-Fusion drummer and composer. Early life Growing up in a musical family in the small village of Enyan Denkyira, near Cape Coast, Ghana, Paa Kow began playing and performing music at the tender age of 5. His uncle and mother were both singers in a touring concert …

  Kwasi Poku Addae, better known by the stage name Kwaisey Pee, is a Ghanaian highlife musician. He is mostly known for his soothing voice, and has five albums to his credit. In 2007, he won the Best Male Vocal performance of the Ghana Music Awards. Early life Kwaisey Pee was born into a music family. …

Charles Kofi Amankwaa Mann (1936 – March 20, 2018), known as C. K. Mann, was a Ghanaian highlife musician and producer. His music career spanned over four decades; he won multiple awards for his songs. He was awarded the Grand Medal of Ghana by John Agyekum Kufour in 2006. Life and career C. K. Mann was born in 1936 in Cape …

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a Ghanaian highlife musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. The first musician from Ghana and the world to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, Ambolley created the musical genre Simigwa. Career Gyedu-Blay Ambolley was rather unknown outside of West Africa until Soundway Records included his seminal Simigwa-Do, which Ambolley released in 1973, …