An Eclectic Reflection on Daddy Lumba's Music Legacy as a Voice of Ghanaian Sociocultural Worldview

An Eclectic Reflection on Daddy Lumba's Music Legacy as a Voice of Ghanaian Sociocultural Worldview | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An Eclectic Reflection on Daddy Lumba's Music Legacy as a Voice of Ghanaian Sociocultural Worldview Dickson Adom, Nyamawero Navei, Michael Ato Essuman, Selorm Divine Ndah, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Music serves as a profound sonic archive, giving voice to a people’s collective philosophy, memory, and social reality. However, scholarly discourse on Ghanaian music remains constrained by a binary paradigm that laments the erosion of tradition or critiques the corrosion of modernity, creating an analytical impasse. This study addresses this gap by positing the three-decade legacy of Daddy Lumba as a paradigm of syncretic curation, a conscious, selective process of artistic adaptation where cultural continuity is actively renewed. Employing a qualitative, intrinsic case study design, the research analysed two primary data sources comprising digitally aggregated census of Daddy Lumba’s discography, and semi-structured interviews with 35 hetrogenous, purposively sampled participants. The song lyrics and interview transcripts were analysed through an integrated framework of Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis. This approach yielded three key findings: Lumba’s proverbial lyrics articulate a hermeneutic philosophy for navigating existential and social modernities; his ‘Burger Highlife’ sound embodies a rooted cosmopolitanism, strategically synthesising traditional Highlife with global pop to bridge generations; and his music has achieved canonical status through ritual ‘musicking,’ becoming indispensable to weddings, funerals, and worship, thus ensuring its trans mission as embodied cultural memory. The study concludes that Lumba’s oeuvre is not a symptom of decay but a dynamic, living archive that vigorously reinvents the Ghanaian sociocultural worldview. It recommends comparative analyses using this syncretic model, for instance, of other iconic Ghanaian and African popular musicians, to further illuminate the strategic role of artists as agents of cultural negotiation, promotion, and preservation. Cultural Studies Anthropology Music Charles Kwadwo Fosu Cultural Memory Daddy Lumba Highlife Musicking Syncretic Curation Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: I declare that the authors have no competing interests Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8611833","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":575152679,"identity":"664a5269-62ea-4a0d-8286-0d721e09eb0e","order_by":0,"name":"Dickson Adom","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIie3PsUrDQBzH8X84OJdrXRPE+goJAelQ2lfJEXDKLB0PCuniAzgoeYVAB3FL+eN1OXSNtINQyKSQMeLSC1To0LN1E7kv3PFbPsMfwGb7iyGQ7YoA6mK7mX7+McS5bQk9RIodQtgxpLsg66AZr+B0Gj/NBmrFs0w4bx8pDB8MxEMaxkxV4KrqapmUFc8lkOA+hfhR7Cc+MoJOigBlcrlMauQ5BXrW0cQvzGT+qclFS/qaZCmcfB0iUUcTvyVQIhcSKNFkaCLtLSFTyAJ9y+uNwjCXfOLdPbuRiXRfcO01Y+z1FrEsG4nn2QTn9fv1YGQi37Gd7Qj9uVz8LPY0+rWw2Wy2/9oGh3NlKwCpEA0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0559-4173","institution":"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dickson","middleName":"","lastName":"Adom","suffix":""},{"id":575152680,"identity":"307bd5b5-bcc5-469a-8f42-d6e78b42efc7","order_by":1,"name":"Nyamawero Navei","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4133-3712","institution":"Centre for Research in Culture \u0026 Creative Arts, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nyamawero","middleName":"","lastName":"Navei","suffix":""},{"id":575152681,"identity":"eea7a70f-6681-4b90-b85b-c614ca8d90dd","order_by":2,"name":"Michael Ato Essuman","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3309-9161","institution":"Department of Publishing Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"Ato","lastName":"Essuman","suffix":""},{"id":575152682,"identity":"5afb5929-cfe1-4d66-8ab0-f2554a1322fb","order_by":3,"name":"Selorm Divine Ndah","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1829-4150","institution":"Department of Music, Seventh Day Adventist College of Education, Koforidua, Ghana","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Selorm","middleName":"Divine","lastName":"Ndah","suffix":""},{"id":575152683,"identity":"19b08b70-a2c9-4ad4-a53c-a0925069b5d8","order_by":4,"name":"Daniel Darkwa Mensah","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6038-9914","institution":"Department of Music, Akrokerri College of Education, Ghana","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"Darkwa","lastName":"Mensah","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-15 15:12:01","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":true,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100373512,"identity":"0774a1e5-5df8-400e-96e6-ec04498eb5c0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-16 08:14:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1288235,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscriptr01.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8611833/v1_covered_d934d26b-1708-4175-946d-9bc2ad038e62.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: I declare that the authors have no competing interests","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn Eclectic Reflection on Daddy Lumba's Music Legacy as a Voice of Ghanaian Sociocultural Worldview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Charles Kwadwo Fosu, Cultural Memory, Daddy Lumba, Highlife, Musicking, Syncretic Curation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMusic serves as a profound sonic archive, giving voice to a people’s collective philosophy, memory, and social reality. However, scholarly discourse on Ghanaian music remains constrained by a binary paradigm that laments the erosion of tradition or critiques the corrosion of modernity, creating an analytical impasse. This study addresses this gap by positing the three-decade legacy of Daddy Lumba as a paradigm of syncretic curation, a conscious, selective process of artistic adaptation where cultural continuity is actively renewed. Employing a qualitative, intrinsic case study design, the research analysed two primary data sources\u0026nbsp;comprising digitally aggregated census of Daddy Lumba’s discography,\u0026nbsp;and semi-structured interviews with 35 hetrogenous, purposively sampled participants. The song lyrics and interview transcripts were analysed through an integrated framework of Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis. This approach yielded three key findings: Lumba’s proverbial lyrics articulate a hermeneutic philosophy for navigating existential and social modernities; his ‘Burger Highlife’ sound embodies a rooted cosmopolitanism, strategically synthesising traditional Highlife with global pop to bridge generations; and his music has achieved canonical status through ritual ‘musicking,’ becoming indispensable to weddings, funerals, and worship, thus ensuring its trans\u003c/em\u003emission as embodied cultural memory. The study concludes that Lumba’s oeuvre is not a symptom of decay but a dynamic, living archive that vigorously reinvents the Ghanaian sociocultural worldview. It recommends comparative analyses using this syncretic model, for instance, of other iconic Ghanaian and African popular musicians, to further illuminate the strategic role of artists as agents of cultural negotiation, promotion, and preservation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"An Eclectic Reflection on Daddy Lumba's Music Legacy as a Voice of Ghanaian Sociocultural Worldview","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-16 03:03:48","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8611833/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"82199d0b-d8dd-4b72-a03f-a20fc8a5ae9e","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":61216216,"name":"Cultural Studies"},{"id":61216217,"name":"Anthropology"},{"id":61216218,"name":"Music"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-16T03:03:48+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-16 03:03:48","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8611833","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8611833","identity":"rs-8611833","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}