Arts + Culture
Was the first rap record made in Ghana in 1973? Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and “Simigwa-Do”
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley recorded "Simigwa-Do" with Ghana's Uhuru Dance Band in 1973, delivering fast, spoken Fante lyrics over highlife…
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Arts + Culture
Lagbaja means “somebody” in Yoruba. Why Bisade Ologunde hid his face to make Afrobeat
Lagbaja, the masked Nigerian musician born Bisade Ologunde in Lagos in 1960, performs with his face covered to…
Arts + Culture
One album changed juju music in 1989: Sir Shina Peters, Ace and the Afro-juju craze
Sir Shina Peters and his International Stars released Ace (Afro-Juju Series 1) in 1989 on CBS Records Nigeria.…
Music
The Kumasi kids who made drill sound like home
How Yaw Tog, O'Kenneth, Reggie, Jay Bahd and the Asakaa crew turned UK drill into something Ghanaian and…
Arts + Culture
He took his stage name from a board game he rarely lost: Oliver De Coque, the king of Igbo highlife
Oliver De Coque, born Oliver Sunday Akanite in Ezinifite, Anambra State, in 1947, became one of the most…
Arts + Culture
“Zombie no go walk unless you tell am to walk”: the Fela song that Nigeria’s soldiers never forgave
Fela Kuti's Zombie, released in Nigeria in 1976 by Coconut Records, mocked soldiers who obey orders without thinking.…
Arts + Culture
“Without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat”: the drummer who built Fela’s rhythm
Tony Allen, the Lagos-born drummer, created the rhythmic foundation of Afrobeat with Fela Kuti in the Africa 70…
Arts + Culture
The Elegant Stallion: Onyeka Onwenu, singer, journalist and politician, who died in 2024
Onyeka Onwenu, known as the Elegant Stallion, was a Nigerian singer, actress, journalist and politician. She made hit…
Music
A 1980s Igbo folk song went viral in 2024. Mike Ejeagha, in his nineties, became a TikTok sensation
In 2024, a dance challenge set to "Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo", a song by the veteran Igbo musician…
Music
The women who stopped asking for a lane
Tems, Tyla, Ayra Starr, Amaarae, Zuchu, Eno Barony and the women who changed who gets to lead African…