I wish to associate with the points raised on the above by a reader in last week’s edition. In his letter, Anthony K. Kyei complained of how our local music scene is virtually robbed of our good old highlifers.

I share Kyei’s concern because it is as if the growth of hiplife must spell the death of its parent stock. While hiplife has its place in today’s society, highlife is far from being a spent force.

Even in these good times of hiplife, highlife has glittered at the few occasions it had been showcased. This is regardless of whether it is the sophisticated Burgher highlife or the native Palm Wine brand.

Beyond entertainment, popular culture is a medium for churning and preserving all the values of a people. When such a field is made to exclude an important group of performers, it is society as a whole that loses.

At the estimated average age of 25, today’s hiplife artiste can not tell us all. There is certainly an active role for our highlife musicians.

The same exclusion syndrome can be said of our female musicians. Why are our ladies virtually missing in the popular music scene?

Must every lady singer follow the gospel genre? One may never know the answers to these questions. Most regrettably, one may never be able to quantify how much we are all missing.

Kofi Akpabli
Off Spintex Road
Accra