Ghanaian artiste Maya Blu has shared her thoughts on ongoing calls for musicians to prioritise highlife music as a way of preserving Ghana’s cultural identity.
Speaking in an interview on BTS with Creatives, a YouTube series hosted by JoyNews’ Jacquline Ansomah Yeboah, Maya Blu said the music industry is evolving and artistes should not be limited to a single genre.
“The world has evolved, and people are just doing what audiences love,” she said.
According to her, the move away from highlife by younger artistes should not be seen as a rejection of tradition but rather an expression of creative freedom.
“Everyone is doing what they do best, and we have to respect that,” she added.
Her comments come amid growing concern from veteran musicians and cultural commentators over the perceived neglect of highlife music by today’s artistes.
Once Ghana’s dominant genre, highlife is known for its rich guitar rhythms, brass instrumentation, and lyrical storytelling. It played a foundational role in shaping Ghana’s popular music and influenced modern genres like hiplife, Afrobeat, and more recently, Afropop.
However, critics argue that contemporary musicians are shifting focus to Afrobeats, amapiano, and other global trends, raising fears about the gradual erosion of Ghana’s musical heritage.
As the debate over preserving highlife continues, Maya Blu’s remarks highlight the tension between cultural legacy and artistic evolution — a dilemma many young musicians are grappling with today.