highlife
noun
high·life ˈhī-ˌlīf 
: dance music of west African origin that combines syncopated African rhythms with elements of jazz
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In the end, his experimentation with Afrobeat, highlife, and rock, coupled with his larger-than-life personality, attracted more attention than his rock peers. 
Ama Udofa, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2022 From traditional West African highlife music to modern-day Afrobeat R&B, Adekunle Gold has become one of the top exports during the genre’s globalization. Emanuel Okusanya, Variety, 8 June 2022 Afrobeat is a genre with the familiar universal appeal of jazz, soul and Ghanaian highlife, alongside the polyrhythmic drumming foundations of the Yoruba, Ewe, and Ga tribes. Christian Adofo, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 Pat Thomas brought distinct approaches, having honed their craft in big dance highlife bands. Christian Adofo, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 Now, Los Bitchos are interested in mixing some Seventies highlife rhythms into their music. Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2022 Nigerian highlife duo the Cavemen, also featured on V, tweeted that their union with Aṣa was a dream realized. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2022 One common thread of my heritage was listening to my father's cassettes of highlife, a musical genre that combines ancient Ashanti rhythms with the rhythms of Ghana's other tribes, along with Western influences and instrumentation. Nadia Owusu, Travel + Leisure, 9 Aug. 2021 His own music increasingly looked to Caribbean and African styles, including compas from Haiti, Congolese soukous from what was then Zaire, rumba from Cuba, highlife from Ghana and makossa from Cameroon. New York Times, 8 Aug. 2021 See More
Ama Udofa, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2022 From traditional West African highlife music to modern-day Afrobeat R&B, Adekunle Gold has become one of the top exports during the genre’s globalization. Emanuel Okusanya, Variety, 8 June 2022 Afrobeat is a genre with the familiar universal appeal of jazz, soul and Ghanaian highlife, alongside the polyrhythmic drumming foundations of the Yoruba, Ewe, and Ga tribes. Christian Adofo, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 Pat Thomas brought distinct approaches, having honed their craft in big dance highlife bands. Christian Adofo, Billboard, 23 Mar. 2022 Now, Los Bitchos are interested in mixing some Seventies highlife rhythms into their music. Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2022 Nigerian highlife duo the Cavemen, also featured on V, tweeted that their union with Aṣa was a dream realized. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2022 One common thread of my heritage was listening to my father's cassettes of highlife, a musical genre that combines ancient Ashanti rhythms with the rhythms of Ghana's other tribes, along with Western influences and instrumentation. Nadia Owusu, Travel + Leisure, 9 Aug. 2021 His own music increasingly looked to Caribbean and African styles, including compas from Haiti, Congolese soukous from what was then Zaire, rumba from Cuba, highlife from Ghana and makossa from Cameroon. New York Times, 8 Aug. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1942, in the meaning defined above