Burger-highlife
Encyclopedia
Burger-Highlife is a distinctive form of highlife
music
created by Ghana
ian immigrants
to Germany
. It is considered a German musical style.
In the 1980s, Reggae
music was gaining popularity worldwide and was carrying with it a growing popularity for other forms of world music
that were easy to dance to. Highlife music, often fused
with Reggae, gained a wider audience in Europe
and North America
at this time. During the late 1970s-early 1980s, there was a massive exodus of Ghanaians to foreign lands. One of the countries that attracted Ghanaians was Germany
, with many making the cities of Berlin
, Düsseldorf
and Hamburg
their second home. Burger-Highlife was born when Ghanaian musicians in Germany started collaborating with German musicians and producers. They created a crossover music style from highlife, disco and funk music.
This creation of a cross-cultural fertilization between two nations and two different cultures bears all the significant hallmarks of co-operation. People from different cultural backgrounds came together, exchanged thoughts, ideas and hopes, and by doing so, they created something new and exciting that had an instant appeal and a lasting impact on Ghana and the Ghanaian and other communities worldwide. A whole subculture
with its own fashion and way of life appeared. Some of the pioneers of Burger Highlife are George Darko
, Lee Dodou, Rex Gyamfi and Charles Amoah.
This distinctive form of music, dubbed "Burger-Highlife", has had a lasting influence of highlife music worldwide.
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
created by Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian immigrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is considered a German musical style.
In the 1980s, Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
music was gaining popularity worldwide and was carrying with it a growing popularity for other forms of world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
that were easy to dance to. Highlife music, often fused
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
with Reggae, gained a wider audience in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
at this time. During the late 1970s-early 1980s, there was a massive exodus of Ghanaians to foreign lands. One of the countries that attracted Ghanaians was Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, with many making the cities of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
their second home. Burger-Highlife was born when Ghanaian musicians in Germany started collaborating with German musicians and producers. They created a crossover music style from highlife, disco and funk music.
This creation of a cross-cultural fertilization between two nations and two different cultures bears all the significant hallmarks of co-operation. People from different cultural backgrounds came together, exchanged thoughts, ideas and hopes, and by doing so, they created something new and exciting that had an instant appeal and a lasting impact on Ghana and the Ghanaian and other communities worldwide. A whole subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
with its own fashion and way of life appeared. Some of the pioneers of Burger Highlife are George Darko
George Darko
George Darko is a Ghanaian highlife musician, who introduced the Burger-highlife with his first hit "Ako ti brofo" , which was very popular in the early 1980s....
, Lee Dodou, Rex Gyamfi and Charles Amoah.
This distinctive form of music, dubbed "Burger-Highlife", has had a lasting influence of highlife music worldwide.