Written by: Nana Tenadu Asihene
For many young people today, Highlife is often spoken about in the past tense. It’s the music our parents played on long drives, Sunday afternoons, or family gatherings. It has become something to remember rather than something to discover. “I’ve always felt Highlife is soulful,” I tell Simms. “There are stories in it. Lessons about love, life and relationships.” He nods. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Born in Italy and raised in the United States to a family from Konongo, the voices of Amakye Dede, Daddy Lumba and Ofori Amponsah filled the house often enough that they became part of his earliest memories. Even his artist name carries that history. “Abrantie” is a tribute to Amakye Dede, while “Simms” comes from his own family name. His songs carry the chill of Highlife while incorporating freely contemporary influences, giving Highlife a voice that feels just as relevant today.
The Meeting That Changed Everything
At the time, Simms was managing another artist MBoy and wanted to introduce him to Kuvie. What started as a simple introduction gradually became something much bigger, a mentorship that would later grow into a creative and business partnership through The High-Life Collective. When I ask Kuvie what separated Simms from the many artists he had worked with over the years, he doesn’t spend time talking about talent. “Simms listens.” Then he adds, “He’s driven, and he’s always ready for more.” Working with artists, Kuvie explains, the real work has never been just about producing records. The real work happens in the relationships that form around the music: the conversations, the collaboration, and the willingness to keep learning.
When Collaboration Feels Like Friendship
One thing becomes obvious as the conversation unfolds. This project wasn’t assembled. It was a process. I’ve watched excerpts from the Finding My Rhythm sessions before our interview, and what stood out wasn’t just the music, it was the atmosphere. People weren’t simply recording verses; they were enjoying one another’s company. It felt less like a studio session and more like friends creating something together. Simms agrees. The vision for the project called for artists whose voices could each bring a different perspective. That’s how Rie Osei, Marince Omario, and Ess Thee Legend became part of the story. Rather than fitting everyone into the same sound, each collaborator brought their own personality to the music. That approach is perhaps most evident in his partnership with Ess. Their relationship began with Mpena, a record Simms produced for $pacely featuring Ess Thee Legend. The chemistry was immediate, but it wasn’t just musical. It became a friendship built on trust, mutual respect, and a shared belief that Highlife still had room to evolve. When I ask why she became the first chapter of Finding My Rhythm, Simms’ answer is refreshingly simple. “It just felt right.” There isn’t a long explanation. Just trust. Ess agrees to the sentiment. Having worked closely with Kuvie over the years, including on her own debut EP on the song, Krokro Mi; the creative environment already felt familiar. Joining Simms on this project wasn’t stepping into unfamiliar territory.
Highlife Was Never Meant to Stand Still
For years, conversations around Highlife have often centred on one question: How do we preserve it? It’s a fair question. Highlife is one of Ghana’s greatest cultural exports, a genre that has shaped generations of musicians across West Africa and beyond. Yet as newer sounds dominate playlists, discussions about Highlife are often framed through nostalgia. Listening to Simms speak, I get the sense that he isn’t interested in preserving Highlife in that way. He wants to keep it moving. “I think every generation adds something to the music,” he says.
“The responsibility is to respect what came before while allowing it to grow.” That philosophy runs through Finding My Rhythm. The songs don’t attempt to recreate classic Highlife records note for note. Instead, they include narratives of warmth and musicianship that made the genre timeless, while welcoming influences from elsewhere. Away from Highlife, Simms spends time listening to R&B, country and classical music. Those influences find their way into his production and songwriting, giving his music a wider emotional range while remaining grounded in the genre that first inspired him. Perhaps that’s why Adwuma Wura feels so refreshing.
“The song celebrates hard work and perseverance, themes that have always existed in Highlife, but presents them through a sound that feels contemporary rather than nostalgic” says Ess. Hearing artists like Ess Thee Legend and Marince Omario, whose listeners may know them more for Afrobeats, Afrosoul, and rap music step comfortably into that space feels like a reminder that Highlife has always been open to evolution. “I actually enjoyed hearing them on that record,” I tell Simms. “It felt familiar, but it also felt new.” That balance was exactly the point.
What Do You Hope the Legends Would Hear?
There’s a moment in every artist’s career when they have to reckon with the people who came before them. For Simms, those names are impossible to separate from his own story. Amakye Dede. Daddy Lumba. Ofori Amponsah. Their records filled his childhood long before he ever thought about producing. So I ask him a question that’s been sitting with me throughout our conversation. “If those legends listened to Finding My Rhythm today, what do you hope they’d hear?” “Those artists didn’t just influence my music; they shaped the way I understood Highlife. Their melodies, storytelling and ability to connect with ordinary people became the blueprint I grew up admiring.”
“Highlife has never belonged to one generation. Every era has added something new without completely abandoning what came before. I see my role in the same way, not replacing the past, but building on it.” Listening to him, I realise that’s exactly what Finding My Rhythm is trying to do. Not recreate the sound but revolutionize it.
Why Show the Process?
In an era where artists often appear only when the music is finished, Simms chose a different approach. Instead of revealing only the finished result, he showed us the entire creative process through the Finding My Rhythm YouTube documentary series. I ask him why. “The songs are only one part of the story,” he says. “The journey is just as important.”
That perspective explains why the documentary feels less like promotional content and more like an archive. It captures artists writing, laughing, experimenting and learning from one another. By the time the EP arrives, you already understand the relationships that gave it life. Watching parts of the series before our conversation, I found myself thinking that the documentary isn’t really about showing people how the music was made. It’s about showing them why it exists.
And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson Simms and The High-Life Collective are trying to leave behind. Music doesn’t begin when you press record. It begins with people.
When Highlife Becomes a Conversation
One thing I appreciated throughout our discussion was that no one spoke about Highlife as though it belonged to the past. There was respect for the pioneers, certainly. But there was also confidence that the genre still has room to grow. That confidence is reflected in the artists Simms chose to work with. Ess Thee Legend, Marince Omario and Rie Osei aren’t artists many listeners would immediately associate with Highlife. Their musical backgrounds lean towards Afrobeats, Afrosoul and contemporary Ghanaian sounds. Yet on Finding My Rhythm, those differences become part of the project’s identity.
Take Adwuma Wura, for example. “The song celebrates hard work and perseverance, themes that have always existed in Highlife, but delivers them through voices that feel fresh” Ess said. Instead of asking collaborators to fit into a traditional mould, Simms allows them to bring their own experiences into the music. Simms pointed to Marince’s use of the Ga dialect as one of the moments that gave the record its raw, authentic energy. He also paid tribute to pioneers like Tinny and Gasmilla, acknowledging how they paved the way for artists to embrace local languages and sounds without compromise.
The Next Chapter of Highlife Starts Here
As our conversation comes to an end, one thing becomes clear: Finding My Rhythm is more than a debut project. It’s the beginning of a conversation about where Highlife can go when artists are willing to honour its roots without being confined by them. It’s easy to measure music by streams, charts and headlines. Harder to measure are the conversations, trust and moments that shape it long before anyone comes into contact with it. That’s what Finding My Rhythm captures. Not just the making of an EP, but the making of an artist finding his place within a genre that has always belonged to storytellers.
Before we said our goodbyes, I realised we had spent almost an hour talking about Highlife without ever treating it like something that needed saving. Instead, we spoke about people, friendships and the joy of creating together. Maybe that’s the point. Highlife has never survived because it stood still, it has survived because every generation found its own voice within it. Listening to Abrantie Simms, Kuvie and Ess Thee Legend, it feels as though another chapter is already being written.
