One of Ghana’s foremost professors in music, Prof. John Collins has argued that Shatta Wale's “My Level” does not pass to be classified as highlife music.
According to Prof. John Collins, even though Shatta Wale's 'My Level' has an element of highlife, it does not qualify to be under a highlife genre.
In an interview with Joy News' Isreal Laryea, the British musicologist who once worked with the likes of Fela Kuti, E.T Mensah, Agya Koo Nimo among others, said “Highlife is a hundred and twenty years old, so Kpanlogo actually borrowed that rhythm from highlife … yes, he is using a Highlife rhythm but certainly, this is typical dancehall music he’s Africanized it ... I will call it afro dancehall”.
Professor Collins first visited Ghana in 1952 with his father, who was a lecturer at the University of Ghana. He returned to Ghana in 1969 and being a guitarist exploring his interest in music, he became a music journalist and a scholar as well.