People thought I was illiterate because I sang in vernacular - Dada Hafco

Highlife musician Dada Hafco has called for more recognition and respect towards the genre in Ghana.

Dada Hafco, real name Terry Asare Boamah, tagged Highlife music as the bedrock of Ghanaian music and culture during an interview on Hitz FM.

He also narrated how he was often mistaken for an illiterate because he sang in the local language.

He said this was a common misconception that many Ghanaians had about highlife musicians and that it needed to change.

“A lot of people hear me speaking English and they go like, 'Oh, we thought he was an illiterate oo'. Yes, because in Ghana, everything that comes with vernacular makes people think you are a villager.

“People’s understanding is that when you speak English, you are from the elite. You know what I mean. And it’s never like that; we need to re-educate these people,” he stated.

He said that highlife music was not inferior or outdated, but rather a rich and diverse genre that could appeal to anyone.

He added that many of the popular Ghanaian musicians today, such as R2bees, Kwame Eugene, and Camidoh, were making highlife music, but they did not label it as such.

This, according to him, was a missed opportunity to promote and preserve the highlife heritage.

“It is the biggest genre in Ghana. The thing is a lot of people make highlife music but they don’t claim it like I do. Like the majority of the people are not like claiming it, as in this is what I do," he said.

Dada Hafco is known for his hit songs like "Our Story", "Yebewu Nti", and "Playboy".

ID/SARA