LO-LIFE is a series I am hosting on Oroko Radio in which I explore over twenty years of alternative Ghanaian music.
Each two-hour show features music old and new, and an intergenerational conversation between two guests: one from when the alternative scene was just starting out and another whose time is now.
Why LO-LIFE?
Highlife music was a celebration of the Can-Do attitude that prevailed in independence-era Ghana. But Ghana has been through a lot since then and today, our nation often feels more like a thing we survive rather than thrive in.
Nevertheless, Ghanaians are as resilient as we are creative in the face of our challenges. And out of that resilience, new variants of highlife have emerged that may not sound as celebratory or popular as their predecessors but which still represent Ghanaian ingenuity, creativity, and a more nuanced hope; often blending highlife influences with lo-fi sounds infused with messages of love, community, aspiration and escape. LO-LIFE is my curation of some of these sounds and influences.
Because Accra is really not new to this.
Kobby Ankomah Graham 