I don't think i need to go into the place of highlife music in igboland,but however i'm not in any way optimistic when i think of the current and future of it.few years ago,we use to have pioneers in people like Osadebe,Oliver,Sam warrior and but it's worrisome that after the demise of these men,nobody is stepping into the huge shoes they left behind. A special case is morroco who seemed to be competing with Osadebe to some extent when he was alive,so one would expect that after the his death, that morroco would take his place.
But that's not what's happening today-as a matter of fact,it seems that morroco is less popular now than he was when Osadebe was alive. So the question is are we ever going to have another highlife icon or is highlife music going to die out with time and what happened to people like Ozoemena nwa nsugbe?

To be frank with you, I think that era has ended. You'll have to make do with the likes of Flavour, J.Martins, Bracket, etc.

mbatuku2:

To be frank with you, I think that era has ended. You'll have to make do with the likes of Flavour, J.Martins, Bracket, etc.

Apart from flavour, those other two sing mostly in English. There's also wizzboy and wacomzy.

yes another igbo topic makes it to the front page

there are still many high life musicians, sunny bobo , sir victor , cant remember their names but on you tube you will find many of them , i dont know anyother nigerian style of music that is more popular than highlife

Not surprised this has made it to the front page.Seun and his crew i can see that any topic that has Igbo attached to it attract huge traffic and consequentlly lot of money for you guys.

i told you igbos to stop opening igbo threafds, dont you see what these seun and his tribalist moderators are doing? are you blind, plslets stop opening all these igbo threads there are hundreds of other groups in nigeria lets learn about them , i take God beg una

The young shall grow. check out this boy, we have alot of them on ground, but who will sponsor them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHxaguVxa4I

Maybe people should stop wearing big shoes so that when they die, people can fill their shoes,

It hurts that Osili nwa mama is gone!! There few that are trying but I dont see them ever getting halfway to where Osy,Oliver,Warrior, Ayaka Nsugbe,Morocco,Ali n'Abo,Celestine Ukwu,Obiligbo,Nwankwo asaa and more got to. They all wan sing for english wey dem no sabi speak!!

Highlife will not die but will assume a new form!

@ Poster: I do not think the state of Ibo highlife is as bad as you depict it. If you really want to appreciate the current state of Ibo high life you have to go beyond the South Eastern states and look at the Ibo speaking areas of Delta. For instance, Ogbogu Okonji from Ogwashi is a very well known Ibo highlife musician. Obidi Chukwuma, the son of the legendary Ali Chukwuma from Aboh (though with an Ogbaru heritage) is another one. I will recommend Ogbogu's album titled "Ndi Uka" and Obidi's album titled "Ndi odi osiso" to you. Chijioke Osadebe, Osadebe's son is equally pulling his weight. Ikem Mazeli from Onitsha comes in for honorable mention. Another fellow is Onye Nze with the track "ndi no na ofe".

Admitted, the state of Ibo highlife could be better but all hope is not lost. The real issue I have with the current crop of Ibo highlife artists is the excessive use of western instruments in their music. Very few of them make sufficient use of the flutes, the gongs and the drums which are our traditional instruments. Back in the days, people like Osadebe, Celestine Ukwu, Paulson Kalu, Zeal Onyia, Charles Iwegbue, Enyinnia Abaribe, Ejeagha all used western instruments but not at the detriment of our local instruments.

You just reminded me of Ejeagha the fork-tale musician.I really enjoyed the guys stories as a little boy growing up.

The Highlife we knew is no longer here. The closest thing to Highlife is in the embodiment of Flavour. Granted, musical genres have a way of resurfacing.

executinal:

The young shall grow. check out this boy, we have alot of them on ground, but who will sponsor them
[flash=500,300]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHxaguVxa4I[/flash]

The only question now is simply if a market still exists for Highlife, as we once knew it.

Ibos are into money ritual, Yahoo Yahoo, and day light robbery now that is why they have neglected ancient landmark

zigima bright chimezie

Beowulf:

@ Poster: I do not think the state of Ibo highlife is as bad as you depict it. If you really want to appreciate the current state of Ibo high life you have to go beyond the South Eastern states and look at the Ibo speaking areas of Delta. For instance, Ogbogu Okonji from Ogwashi is a very well known Ibo highlife musician. Obidi Chukwuma, the son of the legendary Ali Chukwuma from Aboh (though with an Ogbaru heritage) is another one. I will recommend Ogbogu's album titled "Ndi Uka" and Obidi's album titled "Ndi odi osiso" to you.

May God richly bless you for remembering the legendary Ali Chuks, very few spare him a thought these days. His son Obidi was doing very well but his taste for alcohol and weed ruined his reputation a great deal, more than once he came on stage only to burst into tears and had to be led off. The rave of the moment seems to be Ogbogu okonji all over Delta North.
Make no mistake about it, highlife is thriving in the East just that most of the artistes are not as popular as the Osadebey's, the likes of Soni Bobo and the Arabanko dude are favorites all over the East and most good joints at least in Owerri still supply very good highlife bands thru the weekend and there's hardly any alternative but good Igbo highlife music.

wesley80:

May God richly bless you for remembering the legendary Ali Chuks, very few spare him a thought these days. His son Obidi was doing very well but his taste for alcohol and weed ruined his reputation a great deal, more than once he came on stage only to burst into tears and had to be led off. The rave of the moment seems to be Ogbogu okonji all over Delta North.
Make no mistake about it, highlife is thriving in the East just that most of the artistes are not as popular as the Osadebey's, the likes of Soni Bobo and the Arabanko dude are favorites all over the East and most good joints at least in Owerri still supply very good highlife bands thru the weekend and there's hardly any alternative but good Igbo highlife music.

Thank you my brother. I didn't know that Obidi has derailed. Nawa o! It surprises me that few people spare a thought for Ali nwa Chukwuma like you said. Even Benson Idonije who always extols the virtues of Nigerian highlife musicians of old never mentions Ali. Anytime I listen to Ali Chukwuma he brings tears to my ears. Songs like "Onye ilom egbunam kam bie enu" "Alili egbugo nwa mgbeyi" 'Onye ga ekwu nwa mgbeyi onua" "Onwu Everest Oguchi" are really philosophical songs. Celestine Ukwu is seen as the quintessential Ibo highlife philosopher but to me, Ali was not too far off.

I must also mention Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson. I know he was Kalabari but he had some nice songs in Ibo too like "Adure" "Ewu na ebe akwa" (which sadly was misunderstood by the North during the crises of 1966)

success4:

Ibos are into money ritual, Yahoo Yahoo, and day light robbery now that is why they have neglected ancient landmark

Get out of this thread first class monkey.

Beowulf:




Thank you my brother. I didn't know that Obidi has derailed. Nawa o! It surprises me that few people spare a thought for Ali nwa Chukwuma like you said. Even Benson Idonije who always extols the virtues of Nigerian highlife musicians of old never mentions Ali. Anytime I listen to Ali Chukwuma he brings tears to my ears. Songs like "Onye ilom egbunam kam bie enu" "Alili egbugo nwa mgbeyi" 'Onye ga ekwu nwa mgbeyi onua" "Onwu Everest Oguchi" are really philosophical songs. Celestine Ukwu is seen as the quintessential Ibo highlife philosopher but to me, Ali was not too far off.

I must also mention Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson. I know he was Kalabari but he had some nice songs in Ibo too like "Adure" "Ewu na ebe akwa" (which sadly was misunderstood by the North during the crises of 1966)

Thanks for knowing this much, you've sincerely brought joy to my heart. I remember travelling thru Onitsha as a student and stumbling on a CD of Ali Chuks for the very first time as i'd thot no one would bother transferring those old records to CD, how wrong i was. I ended up buying 4 of his CD's that day and would have continued searching if i'd not found my favorite 'ego ji olu' and 'eje lunor'. Those tracks you mentioned just got me feeling envious and i cant wait to go searching again!

My dad had a collection of Rex's songs which i was fond of but i never knew he did any Igbo tracks. That guy was such a master of highlife imagine enjoying an entire collection of songs i couldnt pick out a single word from. I actually used to think he was Ghanian!

bracket you kidding they dont play highlife

we hav highlife musicians who are still makin waves after the depature of these legends. We have d likes of sunny bobo, d hunters, ababa nna, arabanko, saro wiwa, aboki, bongo, bright chimezie(zigima)etc. If u go 2 owerri or if ur 4rm owerri u'll know wat im talkin abt. Even pple in onitsha & oda eastern states know

bashr8:

i told you igbos to stop opening igbo threafds, dont you see what these seun and his tribalist moderators are doing? are you blind, plslets stop opening all these igbo threads there are hundreds of other groups in nigeria lets learn about them , i take God beg una

Ndata:

Not surprised this has made it to the front page.Seun and his crew i can see that any topic that has Igbo attached to it attract huge traffic and consequentlly lot of money for you guys.

i can see dat 2 of u dont hav brains. Or do u think highlife is usless as fuji music dat has no meaning. We as ibos are proud of our culture & if it pains u, look 4 d nearest transformer & kiss it.

success4:

Ibos are into money ritual, Yahoo Yahoo, and day light robbery now that is why they have neglected ancient landmark

UNTAMED BABOON

There are still highlife musicians but many of these guys aren't as adventurous as their predecessors. We still have guys like Sunny Bobo, ND Stanley, Dan Orji, Pastor Apiriwa, Saro Wiwa, Pericoma Okoye, Sir Warrior, Teddy Obinna, and etc. but the power of their music is not to be compared with the pioneers of Igbo highlife (Osadebe, Oriental Bros, Oliver De Coque, and Morroco Maduka).

What if find interesting is that most of what we have now is "regional" music. What I mean by that is some of the music we have now is town praise. For example, you won't listen to a Sunny Bobo or Stanley Song that isn't "Owerre orientated". On the other hand, the original high-life creaters produced music that was for all Igbos in general. I'm not saying that the music now isn't for all Igbos but I think we could do with less "Owerre ri nma, ala Owerre ba ma nma" and more storytelling.

Other than this, highlife is alive and strong in the east.

odumchi:

There are still highlife musicians but many of these guys aren't as adventurous as their predecessors. We still have guys like Sunny Bobo, ND Stanley, Pastor Apiriwa, Saro Wiwa, Pericoma Okoye, Sir Warrior, Teddy Obinna, and etc. but the power of their music is not to be compared with the pioneers of Igbo highlife (Osadebe, Oliver De Coque, and Morroco Maduka).

What if find interesting is that most of what we have now is "regional" music. What I mean by that is some of the music we have now is town praise. For example, you won't listen to a Sunny Bobo or Stanley Song that isn't "Owerre orientated". On the other hand, the original high-life creaters produced music that was for all Igbos in general. I'm not saying that the music now isn't for all Igbos but I think we could do with less "Owerre ri nma, ala Owerre ba ma nma" and more storytelling.

Other than this, highlife is alive and strong in the east.

Some of the chaps you listed here are dead e.g sir warrior and Teddy Obinna.

Andre Uweh:

Some of the chaps you listed here are dead e.g sir warrior and Teddy Obinna.

Oh, I didn't know. Well, there are still many left.

The chaps from Owerri axis are doing very well.

odumchi:

Oh, I didn't know. Well, there are still many left.

Sir Warrior died about 15 years ago, I can't believe you do not know that.

Andre Uweh:

Sir Warrior died about 15 years ago, I can't believe you do not know that.

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. 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.

Its a sad development, and we igbos are not helping matters, I suggest we give the igbo highlife music some attention so that other new acts can spring up and the remaining existing can wax better, If we do not we may end up borrowing juju and fuji music for our traditional events in east.

odumchi:

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. 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.

You are a pride of Igboland and with the work you have done online, Ndigbo are fond of you. But am so surprised that you do not know that such a celebrated Igbo musician has died since the 90's.
It will be strange for a reggae lover to discuss Bob Marley and Reggae without knowing that the legend has died long time ago.

odumchi:

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. 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.

That explains a whole lot!

Andre Uweh:

You are a pride of Igboland and with the work you have done online, Ndigbo are fond of you. But am so surprised that you do not know that such a celebrated Igbo musician has died since the 90's.
It will be strange for a reggae lover to discuss Bob Marley and Reggae without knowing that the legend has died long time ago.

I guess so. Thanks and atleast now I do know.

wesley80:

That explains a whole lot!

What do you mean?