Legendary highlife artiste Amakye Dede has said Nigerian musicians have taken over highlife music from Ghanaians.

Amakye Dede has described it as bad for the future of the Ghanaian music industry.

The multiple award-winning artiste said: “The only authentic music we have is highlife but unfortunately, it is only a few young musicians who are doing pure highlife. We've allowed the Nigerians to take that from us and it is not so good for the future of our industry.”

The ‘Iron Boy’ as he is affectionately called, however, commended young artistes such as Kuami Eugene for taking up highlife but wished a lot more young people will follow suit.

“The likes of Kuami Eugene are doing great when it comes to highlife music but I wish there were more young artistes taking up the genre,” Amakye Dede said.

Amakye Dede also noted that: “We [Ghanaians] can tell our own stories through highlife and that is what I mostly do in my songs. I try as much as possible, to make sure Ghanaians can relate to my songs.”

The veteran artiste made these comments during a recent interview with the Graphic Showbiz.

He further revealed that he was available to assist any artiste who would want to venture into highlife, adding that his availability to such persons will depend on how respectful they are.