Highlife Radio: Ghanaian and Nigerian Highlife Live
Published
You can listen to highlife radio online in any browser, with no download and no account: open 72FM, search for a station's name, and press play. Highlife, West Africa's great dance music, is still on the air in Ghana and Nigeria, alongside hiplife and Afrobeats.
From Ghana
- Nhyira 104.5 FM — highlife, hiplife and Afrobeats in Akan, from Kumasi; the most-voted highlife station in the directory.
- Ahenfie FM 106.1 — highlife and hiplife, also from Kumasi.
- TW Radio 88.9 FM — from the Central Region.
- Agoo 96.9 FM and Kyebi Radio — from the Eastern Region.
From Nigeria
- GoRadio — Afrobeat, highlife and gospel from Lagos.
- 1Radio International — highlife and Nigerian pop from Rivers State.
A little history
Highlife grew up in Ghana in the early 20th century, when guitar bands and dance orchestras mixed local rhythms with brass, jazz and calypso. E.T. Mensah was its king in the 1950s, Nigerian bandleaders such as Victor Olaiya and later Osita Osadebe made it their own, and its descendants include Ghana's hiplife and — through Fela Kuti's early highlife-jazz bands — Afrobeat. Ghanaian radio, Nigerian radio and Afrobeats radio go further.
A route in
- Nhyira 104.5 FM, for Kumasi.
- Ahenfie FM, for highlife and hiplife.
- GoRadio, for Lagos.
For the modern sound, Afrobeats radio online is next.
Frequently asked questions
How can I listen to highlife radio online for free?
Search for the station on 72FM — Nhyira FM, Ahenfie FM and GoRadio are in the directory — no download and no account, with an hour a day free.
Where does highlife come from?
Ghana, in the early 20th century; Nigeria soon had its own highlife too.
What is hiplife?
Ghana's fusion of highlife and hip-hop, from the 1990s.