Highlife is a music genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. It is very popular in Liberia and all of English-speaking West Africa, although little has been produced in other countries due to economic challenges brought on by war and instability.

Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound (see Daddy Lumba). Joromi is a sub-genre.

Artists who perform the Highlife genre include:

Jason Farris Brown (born in Athens, Georgia) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American country music artist and former professional golfer. He has released three albums via his own Average Joe's label, and has charted four singles on the Hot Country Songs charts. Ford has also written a theme song for Professional Bull Riders, and has worked with John Michael Montgomery, Montgomery Gentry, Cledus T. Judd, and Brantley Gilbert among others.

"Take a hefty portion of Southern charm, add a dash of country livin’, a pinch of urban style, wash it all down with a sweet, fresh sound, and you have Colt Ford. A man with such a blend of unique talents and tastes can only be the natural recipe for this new sound and musical format.(Average Joes Ent.)"

Brown was born and raised in Athens, Georgia. He was a professional golfer, playing in one Nationwide Tour but mostly serving as a golfing instructor. Later, he turned his interests to music, taking influence from country music and hip hop. Assuming the stage name Colt Ford, he released his debut album, Ride Through the Country, on December 2, 2008 through Average Joe's Entertainment, which he cofounded. This album included the singles "No Trash in My Trailer" (a cover of a Gene Watson song) and "Ride Through the Country" (a duet with John Michael Montgomery), the latter of which did not chart until the week of October 10, 2009 when it debuted at #57 on the Hot Country Songs chart. He also appeared on a rap remix of Montgomery Gentry's late-2008 Number One single "Roll with Me." Ford's debut album also has guest appearances from country singer Jamey Johnson, as well as Bone Crusher and Jermaine Dupri, Adrian Young of NoDoubt and Jeremy Popoff of Lit. The album did not enter the Billboard albums charts until 2009.

Malcolm McCormick (born January 19, 1992), known by his stage name Mac Miller (previously Easy Mac), is an American rapper from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Rostrum Records and released his debut album Blue Slide Park on November 8, 2011.

Malcolm McCormick was born on January 19, 1992, the son of an architect and a photographer, and raised in the Point Breeze part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father is Christian and his mother is Jewish; Miller was raised Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah. Before attending Taylor Allderdice High School, Miller attended Winchester Thurston School. In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip-hop career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did." Miller, a self-taught musician, plays piano, guitar, drums, and bass.

Before embarking on a solo career, Miller was part of rap group The Ill Spoken together with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. The Ill Spoken released the mixtape How High in 2008. Prior to changing his name to Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac and released the mixtape But My Mackin Ain't Easy in 2007 at 15 years old. In 2009 Mac Miller released two mixtapes The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life before getting signed to Rostrum Records.

Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Cuban-American/Latino hip hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide. It is one of the most well-known groups in West Coast rap and was critically acclaimed for their first two groundbreaking albums.

Senen Reyes (also known as Sen Dog) and Ulpiano Sergio Reyes (also known as Mellow Man Ace) are brothers who initially lived in South Gate, California. In 1971, their family had immigrated to the United States, settling in the Los Angeles neighborhood of South Gate. In 1988, the two brothers teamed up with Lawrence Muggerud (also known as DJ Muggs) and Louis Freese (also known as B-Real) to form a hip-hop group named DVX (Devastating Vocal Excellence). The band soon lost Mellow Man Ace to a solo career, and changed their name to Cypress Hill, after a street in South Gate.

After recording a demo in 1989, Cypress Hill signed a record deal with the major label, Columbia Records. Their self-titled first album was released in August 1991. The lead single was the double A-side "The Phuncky Feel One"/"How I Could Just Kill a Man" which received heavy airplay on urban and college radio. The other two singles released from the album were "Hand on the Pump" and "Latin Lingo", the latter of which combined English and Spanish lyrics. The success of these singles led to the album selling two million copies in the US alone. The group made their first appearance at Lollapalooza on the side stage in 1992.

Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English songwriter and musician whose genres include blue-eyed soul, R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz. A multi-instrumentalist, he plays the electric organ, synthesizers, bass, drums, guitar, mandolin, violin and other strings. A star performer for nearly 50 years, he has also done notable work as a producer.

In addition to his solo career, Winwood was a key member of The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith and Go. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic in 2004.

In 2005, Winwood was honoured as a BMI Icon at the annual BMI London Awards for his "enduring influence on generations of music makers." In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Winwood #33 in its 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Winwood has won numerous Grammy Awards in the United States.

Stephen Lawrence Winwood was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. His father, Lawrence, a foundryman by trade, was a semi-professional musician, playing mainly the saxophone and clarinet. Young Winwood became interested in swing and Dixieland jazz as a boy and began playing drums, guitar, and piano. He first performed with his father and older brother Muff in the Ron Atkinson Band at the age of eight. Winwood was a choirboy at St John's Church Perry Barr and later admitted to having "sneaked a few plays" of the organ there. While he was still young the family moved from Handsworth to the semi-rural suburb of Kingstanding at the northern edge of the city.