Summary

A variant of highlife music that infuses Igbo tradition into highlife. A captivating genre that originated in the southeastern region of Nigeria.It blends highlife music with a streamlined brass section and Igbo traditional music. The lyrics are sung mostly in the Igbo language with some Pidgin English.

Influences
JosplayExplore Igbo Highlife on Josplay Music
HistoryIgbo Highlife is one of the most prominent neo-traditional genres of music to erupt from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. As the name implies, it started as a direct fusion of Igbo traditional music with highlife music. Early Igbo highlife musicians combined highlife rhythms and Igbo traditional rhythms & instrumentation with their unique palm-wine guitar style. Later on, Congo music (Soukous) became a big influence on Igbo highlife.
After its rise in Ghana, highlife music spread like wildfire to other Western African states, including Nigeria. In the 1950s. It was the rave of the moment and became bigger after Ghana's independence in 1957. Being one the first African countries to gain independence, everything Ghanaian became celebrated as a symbol of the new Africa. Nigerian artists started creating their interpretations of this genre. These musicians fused different elements which led to the development of distinct Nigerian highlife styles like the Igbo highlife music.
Erekosima Rex Lawson, popularly known by his stage name Cardinal Rex Lawson is one of the early pioneers of this style of music. Rex began the style of highlife that reduced the amount of Western big band influences and fused the popular Congolese guitar plucking rhythm into his highlife, which became an important aspect of the Igbo traditional highlife music. His lyrics have been sampled in different contemporary genres like Afrobeats and Afrobeat. Some of his popular tracks that became nationwide hits are Yellow Sisi and Sawale (Ashawo).
Traditionally Igbo music was rhythmical like other Nigerian traditional styles. Percussions were the most important instrument of the music. Instruments like Udu (pot drum), Ekwe (slit drum), Olu & Ogene (gongs), Oja (a wind flute), and Okpokolo (woodblock) were used to beat out unique polyrhythmic beats as the singers sing along mostly in a call & response manner in Igbo dialect. When Igbo people came in contact with urban life, they were influenced by popular music styles like palm-wine music and developed their adaptation which was a fusion of the palm-wine guitar style and some Igbo traditional instruments.
Other prominent practitioners of Igbo highlife music include Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, Oliver De Coque, Dr. Sir Warrior, Bright Chimezie, etc., and in more recent times, Ikem Mazeli, Chief Michael Udegbi, Ayaka Ozubulu,  Chief Onyeze nwa Amobi and so on.
Elements 
Form and Style

Highlife songs typically follow a verse-chorus structure, with recurring melodic and lyrical sections. This structure makes audience participation possible. Live performances, Instrumental and vocal improvisation are common

Singing Style

Igbo Highlife often features call-and-response patterns, where a lead singer's phrases are echoed by a chorus or other vocalists

Theme

The lyricism is usually built on socio-political and socio-economical themes mostly about love, patriotism, and praise-singing. Also, many Igbo Highlife songs celebrate life and community, making it a popular genre for social gatherings and dance

Culture

The Igbo language by the people from Eastern Nigeria serves are the main language used in the lyrics in the sub genre of highlife music

Timbre

The timbre of Igbo Highlife music can be described as bright

Arrangement