Ghanaian hip-hop artist Joey B has released his third album, Sexy Highlife, a project that reimagines the classic Ghanaian genre through the lens of New York’s sexy drill movement, zouk, and kompa. The album’s genesis traces back to Brooklyn, where Joey B first encountered the sexy drill subgenre popularized by rapper Cash Cobain.
A New York Inspiration
“There was a whole wave of sexy drill,” Joey B said in a virtual call two days after the album’s release. “It was literally everywhere. I started listening to it, then came back to Ghana and started working on ‘Princess’, which is also on the album. And then it took off.”
The single “Princess” appears as the ninth track on Sexy Highlife. The album mirrors the sensual, sex-focused sensibilities of sexy drill, a style often noted for its departure from violence-heavy drill and its direct themes of desire.
Blending Genres and Nostalgia
Joey B began building the album after the positive reception to “Princess.” “A friend of mine hit me and said, ‘Yo, this is crazy. Make a body of work with this because this motion is crazy,'” he explained. “Sexy Highlife is so New York inspired, and I just thought I’ll also mix our contemporary highlife with hip-hop, like with Bisa Kdei.”
The project leans heavily on nostalgia, borrowing from Ghanaian 2000s rap and elements of his childhood. Joey B (born Darryl Paa Bannerman-Martin) often returns to his past for inspiration. “My favorite childhood memory is my dad coming to pick me up from school, and I think he must have fixed some amplifiers underneath his car seat. He would play Tupac, R&B or zouk in the car. That was very crazy to me. I still remember literally all the songs he would play.”
That cultural education shaped his global taste. “I am all for moving forward, but I always seem to get stuck in the past,” he said. “It’s just this feeling I get when I remember the music my dad played, like all of that. Our Ghanaian channels. I don’t know what was happening when I was very little, but Ghanaians were in this phase of enjoying a francophone type of sound.”
Zouk and Highlife Fusion
On “Exposa,” the third track featuring Nigerian alt singer Odunsi, Joey B explores the zouk music he grew up watching on Ghanaian music stations. The song nods to “Muchana (Zouk Love)” by Congolese artist Kanda Bongo Man, with an even-tempered energy and breezy beat. Joey B’s running consciousness-style rap, where he talks about fetishes and being at the gym at six, gives the track an easygoing yet memorable element. The video is styled and colored like an old Ghanaian hip-hop music video.
“I really want to push the envelope and make that type of sound, without making people bored, and people who know it will get it,” he said.
The Sound of Sexy Highlife
Throughout the album, Joey B makes a case for why he considers highlife music sexy. The opening track “Sexy, Hi” features a woman’s voice declaring her love for highlife, describing the genre as sexy as guitar riffs play in the background, before segueing into “Montecarlo.” The album flows gently, with spacious tracks and unhurried rap delivery similar to traditional highlife composition. Little guitar breaks and sharp storytelling run throughout.
Thematically, Joey B combines raunchy lyrics with clever innuendos, focusing on desire, sex, expensive living, and uncomplicated entanglements. On this project, he presents a free-spirited, confident persona to whom everything comes easy and life feels plush and tender.
An Artist’s Evolution
Joey B’s sonic range is wide. His debut album Darryl differs sharply from the psychedelic trap and hip-hop of his second, Lava Feels, and both are unlike Sexy Highlife. What remains consistent is his willingness to surprise himself and his audience. “I honestly didn’t think people would love it this much, to be honest,” he admitted. “You know, when you exper…”
