Traditional music in Ghana varies greatly from one ethnic to group to another. Instrumentation can include a wide variety of percussion instruments as well as string instruments.
Highlife was created during the 1950s. Highlife combined western and African music using multiple guitars and a brass band and was very popular before and after Ghanaian independence in 1957.
During the political instability and economic hardships of the 1980s, gospel music became popular as more people headed to the church for answers. Gospel is still popular in Ghana, especially in the largely christian south.
In the 1990s, a new style known as hiplife emerged. Hiplife pulled together elements of American style hip-hop and fused them together with highlife.
Raglife became popular not long after hiplife. Raglife is a melding of reggae and ragga (short for raggamuffin music, a sub-genre of reggae that leans heavily on electronic music).