HIGH LIFE

ABROKYIRE ABRABO – Documentary [Pronunciation: Ab–Bro–Ch’TRay Ab–Bra–Bo]

In the 1980’s there was an explosion of African music in the United Kingdom, largely made popular through the Ghanaian music genre called ‘Highlife’.

For many West African immigrants this was the happening music of choice, proudly listened to on the very aspirational “must have” sound system; ‘The Radiogram’ – an old fashioned, multi-functional furniture centre piece made of highly polished wood. One Highlife tune that hauntingly remains in memory is the Akan language song ‘Abrokyire Abrabo’ (loosely translated as “Life in a White-man’s country”). I document why the Radiogram was so coveted and unearth the self-searching story behind the song – Abrokyire Abrabo, aloft waves of West-African rhythms.