At least flavour is trying.

Did someone mention Ali chukwuma?Ali chukwuma is my superstar,pity i never knew him when he was alive Gosh! I like that man's songs die,his songs always touch my soul,eew! Onwu gburu madam comfort na Abi,that song brings me to tears,madam comfort must have been a good woman,morocco's asili 98 is  one of my favourites, obiako obinwam by ejagha is wonderful,osadaebey's agbalu aka azo ani drives me mad,what will i say about nwanne ebezina? Oriental brothers songs are the bomb, I like igbo highlife songs a lot,my friends think am weird,i mean,when they are all hooked up with lil wayne,jazzy,etc,am busy listening to songs that are made for old men,hehe!

@topic
The up coming ones are there,and they are not doing that bad either,sunny bobo did well with that his famous album,i have not heard from him since then,saro wiwa is equally good,Ababanna is not doing bad too.

odumchi:

[b]I'm not as old as you think I may be lol. Since he died 15 years ago, that means that he died when I was only a year old. [/b]Besides, I've been listening to Highlife music ever since I was a small child but it's only now that I'm beginning to pay real attention to it.

@Topic: Well, I'm going to be honest, I don't really know any names in Highlife except for Sir Warrior and Peacocks International, but I love the musical genre. It's #2 on my list of all-time favorite genres.

Uba Awuu Nwa is one of my all-time favorite songs, period.

ChinenyeN:



@Topic: Well, I'm going to be honest, I don't really know any names in Highlife except for Sir Warrior and Peacocks International, but I love the musical genre. It's #2 on my list of all-time favorite genres.

Uba Awuu Nwa is one of my all-time favorite songs, period.

Lol surprised?

And yes, Uba Awuu Nwa is a very good song. The good thing about highlife is that it lives irrespective of the lifespan of it's creators. Music from the 60s 70s and 80s is still being enjoyed today.

Of course I'm surprised. It's surprising to see someone that young, so in-tune like this, and even displaying a level of fluency in their lect and general Igbo. Are you in the States?

odumchi:

The good thing about highlife is that it lives irrespective of the lifespan of it's creators. Music from the 60s 70s and 80s is still being enjoyed today.

Very true.

ChinenyeN:



@Topic: Well, I'm going to be honest, I don't really know any names in Highlife except for Sir Warrior and Peacocks International, but I love the musical genre.

That was obvious the moment you mentioned 'Flavour' as being 'closest' to highlife music today!

wesley80:

That was obvious the moment you mentioned 'Flavour' as being 'closest' to highlife music today!

heh. . Will I lie? Flavour is the closest thing I know to the Highlife I remember hearing, growing up, because to the best of my understanding, that era of music is gone.

pazienza:

Did someone mention Ali chukwuma?Ali chukwuma is my superstar,pity i never knew him when he was alive Gosh! I like that man's songs die,his songs always touch my soul,eew! Onwu gburu madam comfort na Abi,that song brings me to tears,madam comfort must have been a good woman, 

You mean madam Comfort 'onye omali osa' one of my favorites also, you guys r making realize how few of his songs i actually have. Never knew him when he was alive either but dont think it would have made any difference. A brother once gave a scathing criticism of his songs describing most of them as being too 'mournful/sorrowful and with a theme mostly bothering around 'death', i knew he had a point but what cannot be taken away from him is the beauty of his songs and ability to stir deep emotions within its listener.
For Osadebey, with me its the older the better, of course Osondi owendi is a classic, still love makojo, Aduke, Abube 85 as well as most songs he did during his days of rivalry with Oliver (as i got to understand) imagine those guys trying to do the best song for 'Peoples club'! Intriguing. As for Oliver, i only like his vintage songs, yes we all grooved 'biri kan biri' but it wasnt really enduring. Morroco? I stopped in Ubanese, not cos he wasnt good but it wasnt my type. Love oriental bros and sir Warrior, heard the latter was caught with drugs abroad and injected with a lethal dose of something to go and die at home! Lolzzz

ChinenyeN:

heh. . Will I lie? Flavour is the closest thing I know to the Highlife I remember hearing, growing up, because to the best of my understanding, that era of music is gone.

Maybe I dont know the Flavour you're referring to but if you meant the dude that did that 'o baby sawa le' song that Kenyans are all dying for, i'll burn that CD if anyone brings it close to my cache of highlife songs. That 'chaka kpom chaka kpom' isnt highlife and i stand corrected!

^Beats me too why anyone wud refer to Flavor's music as 'hihg life'?I like the dude fine,but his music as highlife?that is a SIN.period.

@Topic,High life is NOT dead in Igboland,the question is,do we still appreciate high life?What do we have these days?In traditional ceremonies(marriages,funeral,chieftancy) you hear all sorts of ridiculous music ranging from the Okoye boys to 2shot.Not hating but those songs are meant for the dancehall and a huge shame when we import them to the traditional function.

I still have cd's of and enjoy,Mazeli,afam Ogbotogbp(Onitsha),Ogene boys(Awka),Sunny bobo,Saro wiwa etc.

And an observation,I think,Imo and delta are still very much doing well in 'highlife appreciation',same can't be said for Anambra,Enugu,Ebonyi,Abia etc.

@OP,when was the last time u bought a highlife CD?when was the last time you downloaded/listened to one on youtube?

Anything not appreciated would go into extinct,someday.

wesley80:

You mean madam Comfort 'onye omali osa' one of my favorites also, you guys r making realize how few of his songs i actually have. Never knew him when he was alive either but dont think it would have made any difference. A brother once gave a scathing criticism of his songs describing most of them as being too 'mournful/sorrowful and with a theme mostly bothering around 'death', i knew he had a point but what cannot be taken away from him is the beauty of his songs and ability to stir deep emotions within its listener.
For Osadebey, with me its the older the better, of course Osondi owendi is a classic, still love makojo, Aduke, Abube 85 as well as most songs he did during his days of rivalry with Oliver (as i got to understand) imagine those guys trying to do the best song for 'Peoples club'! Intriguing. As for Oliver, i only like his vintage songs, yes we all grooved 'biri kan biri' but it wasnt really enduring. Morroco? I stopped in Ubanese, not cos he wasnt good but it wasnt my type. Love oriental bros and sir Warrior, heard the latter was caught with drugs abroad and injected with a lethal dose of something to go and die at home! Lolzzz

Well,the brother is right,but that's the more reason why he is my superstar,i easily relate to those his sorrowful songs,the more sorrowful he makes them,the better it sounds to me.

Oliver? I like that song he sang for people's club,how time changes,people's club is no longer reigning,that club was once great,whatever happened to them,i dont know.

There is this other guy i love his song,his name is spider ududo. The sam warrior story,i heard it too,i always wonder if it's true,they said that when they gave him the lethal injection,he came back and sang the song 'uwa chiga chiga'.

Oriental brothers are cool, songs like obinwannem,nwanyi diya wu eze,onye ka uwa ya kacha nma are great,i can't just get enough of them,owerri dialect and anioma dialect are good for music,even though i always have difficulty understanding the former.

highlife music reminds me of when i was growing up<memories of me and my papa is all i think of each time i listen to highlife beats,making me wish i should become a child once more<.igbo highlife music is deep and makes me shed tears of love,joy,pain,loss.it somehow makes me think of etenity

ifyalways:

^Beats me too why anyone wud refer to Flavor's music as 'hihg life'?I like the dude fine,but his music as highlife?that is a SIN.period.

@Topic,High life is NOT dead in Igboland,the question is,do we still appreciate high life?What do we have these days?In traditional ceremonies(marriages,funeral,chieftancy) you hear all sorts of ridiculous music ranging from the Okoye boys to 2shot.Not hating but those songs are meant for the dancehall and a huge shame when we import them to the traditional function.

I still have cd's of and enjoy,Mazeli,afam Ogbotogbp(Onitsha),Ogene boys(Awka),Sunny bobo,Saro wiwa etc.

And an observation,I think,Imo and delta are still very much doing well in 'highlife appreciation',same can't be said for Anambra,Enugu,Ebonyi,Abia etc.

@OP,when was the last time u bought a highlife CD?when was the last time you downloaded/listened to one on youtube?

Anything not appreciated would go into extinct,someday.

Nwannem nwanyi,you are right,like chinenye asked,i don't know if there is still market for highlife music,most young people can't relate to it,i don't think having new highlife musicians would make a difference,like you noted,owerri(imo) people are still trying. As for Enugu people,they relate more to traditional Enugu songs,groups like udu bonchi and co,are doing well in enugu,enugu people like high high tempo songs a lot,highlife music won't cut it for them.

Make una no misinterpret my words like this o. I never said Flavour was Highlife. I said that he is the closest thing to it, since (as far as I understand) the era for that genre of music is over. See my comments, quoted below.

ChinenyeN:

heh. . Will I lie? Flavour is the closest thing I know to the Highlife I remember hearing, growing up, because to the best of my understanding, that era of music is gone.

So I no understand how pesin go fit misunderstand my words to that extent. I never said nor insinuated anything like Flavour being Highlife. I know Highlife music when I hear it, and Flavour is not Highlife, but he definitely incorporates some distinct elements of Highlife into some of his music. That is why I said he is the closest thing now to the genre that was alive and reverberating then.

I would be doing Warrior, Oriental Bros, Peacocks and all others a great disservice, if ever I call Flavour "Highlife".

Wesley, Pazienza and ChinenyeN, you guys are making my eyes well up with tears discussing these highlife legends!

Ali Chukwuma, the philosophical bent of his songs make me love him to bits! Maybe because I am melancholic. My brother and I are so crazy about Ali Chukwuma that we  would call each other on the phone and play any new Ali Chukwuma's song we hear to each other. My brother and I are always buying up Ali's CDs. God bless those who has transmitted them into CDs. I am in my late twenties and people laugh at me that I am so old school and should not have been born in this generation. LOL. Do you know that Ali Chukwuma sang a tribute to Celestine Ukwu? I have the song on my BB. You should listen to that song-I promise you you will cry. Is it me or is the Delta Igbo dialect good for making sorrowful songs?

Celestine Ukwu, what can I say about this great man? Songs like "Chekwube Olisa" "uso ndu" "onwunwa abia" keep me grounded and always conscious of my mortality.  He was the most philosophical of his contemporaries. His "igede" remains a masterpiece.

Enyinnaya Abaribe and Peacocks band, God bless them for giving us eternal tracks like "Igbuolam obieze" "nwanne aga alunu nwane alu" "uba bu uwa". That Imo/Abia dialect of theirs did eternal justice to these tracks and ma.

Charles Iwegbue, another great musician with his tribute to Patrice Lumumba. His "ejelunor", "salim ye" are nice gems.

Ofege, Wrinker's Experience should also be commended.

Afam Ogbuotobo, Ozoemena Nsugbue, Okonkwo Asa 77, Okonkwo Adibe, Paulson Kalu, Ikenga superstars are all very worthy of mention.

I could go on and on but let me stop here for now. Didn't know there are so many kindred spirits like you out there

ChinenyeN:

Of course I'm surprised. It's surprising to see someone that young, so in-tune like this, and even displaying a level of fluency in their lect and general Igbo. Are you in the States?
Very true.

Lol thanks. And yes, I am in the states. New York to be exact.

Beowulf:

Wesley, Pazienza and ChinenyeN, you guys are making my eyes well up with tears discussing these highlife legends!

Ali Chukwuma, the philosophical bent of his songs make me love him to bits! Maybe because I am melancholic. My brother and I are so crazy about Ali Chukwuma that we  would call each other on the phone and play any new Ali Chukwuma's song we hear to each other. My brother and I are always buying up Ali's CDs. God bless those who has transmitted them into CDs. I am in my late twenties and people laugh at me that I am so old school and should not have been born in this generation. LOL. Do you know that Ali Chukwuma sang a tribute to Celestine Ukwu? I have the song on my BB. You should listen to that song-I promise you you will cry. Is it me or is the Delta Igbo dialect good for making sorrowful songs?

Celestine Ukwu, what can I say about this great man? Songs like "Chekwube Olisa" "uso ndu" "onwunwa abia" keep me grounded and always conscious of my mortality.  He was the most philosophical of his contemporaries. His "igede" remains a masterpiece.

Enyinnaya Abaribe and Peacocks band, God bless them for giving us eternal tracks like "Igbuolam obieze" "nwanne aga alunu nwane alu" "uba bu uwa". That Imo/Abia dialect of theirs did eternal justice to these tracks and ma.

Charles Iwegbue, another great musician with his tribute to Patrice Lumumba. His "ejelunor", "salim ye" are nice gems.

Ofege, Wrinker's Experience should also be commended.

Afam Ogbuotobo, Ozoemena Nsugbue, Okonkwo Asa 77, Okonkwo Adibe, Paulson Kalu, Ikenga superstars are all very worthy of mention.

I could go on and on but let me stop here for now. Didn't know there are so many kindred spirits like you out there

You've just added to my list of songs I have to listen to

odumchi:

Lol thanks. And yes, I am in the states. New York to be exact.

You've just added to my list of songs I have to listen to

Odumchi, where in New York are you exactly? I used to live in upper Manhattan before I returned home. I am glad there are young folks listening to all these songs. This is how posterity thrives. I thank God for my parents who played all these "old school" songs around us. We really learnt a lot from these songs-not most of these modern music that is all noise and bereft of content

pazienza:

Nwannem nwanyi,you are right,like chinenye asked,i don't know if there is still market for highlife music,most young people can't relate to it,i don't think having new highlife musicians would make a difference,like you noted,owerri(imo) people are still trying. As for Enugu people,they relate more to traditional Enugu songs,groups like udu bonchi and co,are doing well in enugu,enugu people like high high tempo songs a lot,highlife music won't cut it for them.

It's like that with Abia as well. Most people recognize traditional songs more. Even me, I'm guilty of it. As much as I love Highlife (it is my #2 genre of all time), I love Ekpuru more (#1 on my list).

@Topic, Did the people constituting what is now Abia state ever even produce a single Highlife musician?

ChinenyeN:

It's like that with Abia as well. Most people recognize traditional songs more. Even me, I'm guilty of it. As much as I love Highlife (it is my #2 genre of all time), I love Ekpuru more (#1 on my list).

@Topic, Did the people constituting what is now Abia state ever even produce a single Highlife musician?

ChinenyeN i think the answer is in the positive. Was Peacock Band led by Enyinaya Abaribe not a highlife band? Just off the top of my head.

odumchi:

Lol thanks. And yes, I am in the states. New York to be exact.

Okay. New York. I can see how that would help facilitate such a level of in-tune-ness. By the way, let me ask you (just a random question, not intended to diverge away from the Highlife topic), how did you come to know that the bulk of Ikwere were from Aro, Mbaise and Ngwa?

ChinenyeN:

Make una no misinterpret my words like this o. I never said Flavour was Highlife. I said that he is the closest thing to it, since (as far as I understand) the era for that genre of music is over. See my comments, quoted below.

So I no understand how pesin go fit misunderstand my words to that extent. I never said nor insinuated anything like Flavour being Highlife. I know Highlife music when I hear it, and Flavour is not Highlife, but he definitely incorporates some distinct elements of Highlife into some of his music. That is why I said he is the closest thing now to the genre that was alive and reverberating then.

I would be doing Warrior, Oriental Bros, Peacocks and all others a great disservice, if ever I call Flavour "Highlife".

Fair enough, my apologies.

Beowulf:

ChinenyeN i think the answer is in the positive. Was Peacock Band led by Enyinaya Abaribe not a highlife band? Just off the top of my head.

That is the reason why I asked, because you previously mentioned the name Enyinnaya Abaribe. Now, I don't so much know all the names in Highlife musical genre, but I definitely recognize the name Enyinnaya Abaribe. So that is what prompted my question, since I have always imagined Highlife as being typically Imo and Anambra.

wesley80:

Fair enough, my apologies.

It's no problem.

Highlife don die

I thank thank the OP so much for opening this thread. When I was a kid there were songs I used to hear during burial and they are actually Sir Warrior. I googled Igbo highlife and found those 3 songs and can't stop playing them.

1 Ebelam Akwa Uwa.

2 Anam Elechi

3 Nwanyi diya wu Eze

Bright Chimezie "Lekwe Uwam" and "African style".

I thank thank the OP so much for opening this thread. When I was a kid there were songs I used to hear during burial and they are actually Sir Warrior. I googled Igbo highlife and found those 3 songs and can't stop playing them.

1 Ebelam Akwa Uwa.

2 Anam Elechi

3 Nwanyi nnaya wu Eze

Bright Chimezie "Lekwe Uwam" and "African style".

Ah! These guys must be good. How come we don't hear them on TV? Haven't heard of any of them, except Oliver de coque and Bracket (the young guy yh?).
Only heard of Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Shina Peters, IK Dairo (think he was knighted by t queen) etc. Juju n Fuji music, which I must say, sounds good too. Some funny, some gospel, uplifting, wise-man lyrics etc.
Would deffo be googling these artists, you guys have made mention of, sometime.

Beowulf:

Odumchi, where in New York are you exactly? I used to live in upper Manhattan before I returned home. I am glad there are young folks listening to all these songs. This is how posterity thrives. I thank God for my parents who played all these "old school" songs around us. We really learnt a lot from these songs-not most of these modern music that is all noise and bereft of content

I live in the Bronx. And yeah, highlife music is the art of story telling. Personally, I prefer a good dose of Morocco Maduka over a contemporary musician like say Bracket.

ChinenyeN:

Okay. New York. I can see how that would help facilitate such a level of in-tune-ness. By the way, let me ask you (just a random question, not intended to diverge away from the Highlife topic), how did you come to know that the bulk of Ikwere were from Aro, Mbaise and Ngwa?

Well, I've read a bit about the history of the people we now as Ikwerre and from what I read, I've inferred that long-distance merchants, slave traders, and other settlers from the said places were mainly responsible for the settlement of Ikwerreland. I also asked questions.

I think Peacocks Guitar Band International has very nice beats. My favorite is Iwe Ewelam.

I do think that the golden age of highlife is gone. 60's and 70's music is exemplified by music bands/artists with "live" music and beats such as funk, highlife, and rock reflected this.

Today's music is very packaged (i.e. studio) with pop/hip-hop undertones, and "highlife" artists like Flavor Nabania fit more into the scheme. Pure Highlife songs being mega hits will look out of sync with the trends, to be honest.

Who knows though, 20-30 years from now pure "band" music could make a strong comeback.

Thanks for the replys @all. Didn't follow the thread because i thought nobody'll be interested in it. just wanted to express my fears about the state of highlife music.
@Offtopic
can the late seven-seven's songs be classified as highlife (anybody remember him?)

odumchi:

Well, I've read a bit about the history of the people we now as Ikwerre and from what I read, I've inferred that long-distance merchants, slave traders, and other settlers from the said places were mainly responsible for the settlement of Ikwerreland. I also asked questions.

Naturally, I'd like to ask more detailed/specific questions, but here just isn't the place for it, and now isn't the time. Anyway, thanks.

I think Igbo traditional music has taken a new dimension. That might have retarded highlife music. Now you have gyration singers-Tony one week, Emeka Rollers, Omega Boy, Stone cold etc. You have Abigbo singers such as Oge Nwanne, Obewe etc and Bongo singers such Sunny Bobo, Ababa nna, Sarowiwa etc.
I still belief, there is a future for Igbo music not necessarily highlife. Though highlife is not dead yet.

Has anyone listened to the late seven-seven's songs?