What comes to mind when you hear highlife music? Many Gen Zs might think it’s an old-school genre reserved for their parents or grandparents. But Nigerian highlife duo Kingsley Okorie and Benjamin James are changing that narrative. With their fresh, urban twist, they’re giving highlife a modern groove that connects across generations and even resonates with fans around the world.
With their third studio album, ‘Cavy in the City’, The Cavemen take highlife to new heights. Following their earlier works ‘Roots’ (2020) and ‘Love and Highlife’ (2021), this album marks a shift in their career. With Cavy in the City, the duo broadens their vision, showing how highlife can thrive in today’s global and cosmopolitan world.
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Tracks
Released on 31 October 2025, ‘Cavy in the City’ is a 13-track album that opens with “Welcome to the Cave.” Though short and non-musical, this intro track lays the groundwork for what’s to come, setting the listener’s mind in tune with the album’s concept and creative direction.
“Keep on Moving” (featuring Angélique Kidjo) kicks off the album in full swing. It opens with a smooth highlife melody, accompanied by vibrant instrumentation. The blend of background sounds and vocals creates a rich, harmonious flow, and when Angélique’s voice enters, it elevates the track beautifully. The song strikes a perfect balance between traditional highlife rhythms and the fresh pulse of modern urban music.
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“Adaugo” sets a romantic tone, its tender melody carried by the soulful sound of the Oja (local flute), which breathes nostalgia and emotion into the track.
On “Signs and Wonders,” soft keyboard chords meet the warmth of highlife and the smoothness of blues, resulting in a gentle love song that’s both classic and contemporary.
The experimental “Gatekeepers” featuring Pa Salieu stands out as one of the album’s most conceptually daring cuts. Highlife merges with reggae and rap drums to create a textured soundscape that bridges London, Gambia, and Nigeria. Lyrically, it questions cultural authority, who decides access to art, the city, and identity, embodying the album’s metropolitan narrative.
Midway through, “General” and “Agada” dip in energy, offering pleasant but less memorable moments. Yet, “Paddling” injects humour and heart back into the mix, with its church-style a cappella and gospel-inspired message about persistence.
“Chameleon” brings the groove back in full force, effortlessly blending highlife with modern urban textures. “Dancing Dancing Shoes” follows, an upbeat anthem that celebrates joy, connection, and the communal spirit of dance.
“Hold Me” shifts the mood to intimacy, its soft instrumentation framing a tale of love and vulnerability.
In “Mama Speaks,” the listener is greeted by the artist’s mother, whose advice in Igbo provides a deeply personal interlude; a grounding voice of tradition within the album’s modern frame.
Closing with “Onwunwa Celestine,” The Cavemen. Return home to pure highlife, ending the album on a note of cultural pride and continuity —a reminder that even in the city, the roots still run deep.
Review
One thing that stands out about The Cavemen is how effortlessly they blend deep thought with rhythm. Their music has always carried a philosophical undercurrent, teaching, reflecting, and celebrating, all within the familiar warmth of highlife. Yet, they make it groove for today’s listener.
With Cavy in the City, they give high life a modern facelift without stripping it of its roots. The result is music that’s both reflective and refreshing, entertaining and enlightening, a delicate balance between tradition and modernity.
At its heart, Cavy in the City plays on the tension between origin and destination. The “Cavy” symbolises the cave, roots, heritage, and the primal spark of music; while “the City” represents modern life, movement, and global sound.
The Cavemen have long said they want people to experience highlife as something new, and this album delivers exactly that. They step boldly out of the cave and into the cosmopolitan soundscape, not abandoning their past, but carrying it proudly into the future.
Musically, the duo stay true to their live-band aesthetic. Guitars, horns, and warm analogue textures remain their signatures, together with rich vocal harmonies. But this time, there’s an expanded palette; urban beats, syncopated percussion, and subtle afro-fusion influences. The sound is tighter, more confident, and more ambitious.
Throughout the album, the Cavemen navigate that delicate space between authenticity and evolution. Their grounding in highlife gives them credibility; they don’t just borrow from the genre, they live it. The live instrumentation breathes life into every track, giving Cavy in the City a richness that many modern afro-fusion projects can’t match. Yet, their ambition to modernise highlife also comes with risks. At times, the broader sonic range feels a bit scattered, and traditionalists may find the urban leanings unfamiliar. But those moments are few, and they don’t derail the album’s larger message.
Ultimately, Cavy in the City succeeds in its mission. It doesn’t merely revive highlife, it redefines it. The Cavemen prove that the genre can exist confidently within today’s global music landscape, without losing its soul. Where their earlier works (Roots and Love and Highlife) were nostalgic and restorative, this one is forward-looking, a declaration that highlife is not a relic of the past, but a living, evolving sound.
Verdict: 7/10
Cavy in the City is currently available to stream on Spotify and other popular streaming platforms.
