All categories for awards are highly competitive and this year’s Highlife Song of the Year is no different. The genre that can be said to be originally Ghanaian has in years past seen a dip. The reason can be attributed to a lot of factors including the generational preferences which has made a lot of Ghanaian artistes ‘pop-oriented’. However one artiste has stayed true to his calling and has steadily progressed. Though he has not attained the roof-blowing success as expected, his compositions speak volumes.
Kumi Guitar has from the onset of his musical journey established himself as a giant in highlife. The enterprising songwriter has never disappointed on any song dishing out appropriate lyrical content. He has picked a number of awards but not at the Charterhouse organized event. He will have to beat strong competition including Dada Hafco’s ‘Yebewu Nti’, ‘Thunder’ by Lynx Entertainment signee Kidi, KwesiArthur’s inspirationally-charged ‘Woara’, fan-favorite ‘CCTV’ performed by King Promise which featuresSarkodie and Mugeez, Adina’s ‘Killing Me Softly’ and surprisingly Shatta Wale’s ‘My Level’.
The picturesque qualities of Kumi Guitar’s ‘Betweener’ coupled with modulation in its instrumentation makes it well-grounded. The song released in the year 2018 under the Zylofon Music label was an instant fan favourite. It is one of those songs that you cannot turn a ‘blind’ ear to. It is a very realistic composition that touches on males who cannot approach females they admire and make their intentions known.
If he picks the award, he joins a list of experienced highlife greats such as the late Daasebre Dwamena, Lucky Mensah, Adane Best, Rex Omar, OforiAmponsah amongst a host of other talented musicians. This year marks the twentieth anniversary since the inception of the awards in 1999. It is scheduled for the 18th of May, 2019 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Written by: Nana Fredua-Agyeman Jnr.
