The Cavemen Osondu (2020)
Highlife is a West African sound that originated along the coast of Ghana during colonial times. The sound fused African meter, singing and percussion with western musical instruments. Brass bands started the movement, and as time went on, other instruments were incorporated along with vocals and Western styles of music like jazz and blues.
Highlife synthesized the sounds of Europe, North America and West Africa to create something entirely fresh. A musical creole of sorts. The sound spread from Ghana and flourished in Nigeria too, where it gained a new identity with the influence of Yoruba drums, rhythms and song. There are a diverse range of highlife styles, reflecting different African identities. There is gospel highlife, burger highlife (named for the Ghanaians who moved to Germany, specifically Hamburg), Igbo highlife and other styles from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia, where the sound also had an impact.
Nigerian Brothers Benjamin James and Kingsley Okorie perform as the Cavemen, and they are bringing back the highlife sound with their own twist. The brothers paint an emotive picture with the melodies and instrumentation of “Osondu”. The song was composed in 2017 and makes a welcome addition to the sounds of West Africa currently permeating the globe.
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