by eno baroni plays. this is the story of a music genre that birthed a global movement. but before hiplife, there was �*highlife�*. highlife music plays. from ghana's independence in 1957 through to the 1970s, highlife was the nation's soundtrack. back in the what we call �*the colonial days,�* they were using all these instruments for military songs. # ba—ba—dum, ba—ba—dum. # dun, dun ba—da—da—da—dum... you know, people were marching and things like that... the colonial masters in their bow ties, they thought that that was a "high" form of life and they called it highlife. highlife isn't originally from ghana. highlife was brought to ghana by soldiers from the west indies. ghanaian rhythms were pushed into the highlife.