Music
Mamman Shata: the Hausa singer whose praise songs and kalangu drums filled northern Nigeria
Alhaji Mamman Shata of Katsina was the most celebrated Hausa singer of the twentieth century. Accompanied by kalangu…
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Bella Bellow: the Togolese voice who died at 28 at the height of her fame
Bella Bellow was the first Togolese singer to win international fame, admired across Africa and in France in…
Arts + Culture
MASA: the Abidjan market where African performers meet the world’s programmers
The Marché des Arts du Spectacle d'Abidjan, known as MASA, has brought African musicians, dancers and theatre companies…
Music
Papa Wendo Kolosoy: the father of Congolese rumba and the song Marie-Louise
Antoine Wendo Kolosoy, known as Papa Wendo, recorded Marie-Louise in 1948, one of the first great hits of…
Music
Pepe Kalle: the Elephant of Zaire and his band Empire Bakuba
Pepe Kalle, a towering Congolese singer known as the Elephant of Zaire, led Empire Bakuba to fame in…
Music
Festival au Désert: the Malian music festival in the Sahara that went into exile
The Festival au Désert, launched in Mali in 2001, brought Tuareg, Malian and international musicians to the dunes…
Arts + Culture
Akan goldweights: the tiny brass sculptures that weighed gold dust and carried proverbs
For centuries, Akan traders weighed gold dust using small brass weights cast in geometric shapes and figures of…
Arts + Culture
The Kano Durbar: horsemen, emirs and centuries of Sallah tradition in northern Nigeria
During the Eid festivals, Kano and other northern Nigerian cities hold durbars, grand processions of horsemen in colourful…
Music
Maskandi: the Zulu guitar music born on the road between village and mine
Maskandi is a Zulu guitar music that grew among migrant workers travelling between rural KwaZulu-Natal and the mines…
Music
Abdel Halim Hafez: the Dark Nightingale whose voice and films defined Egypt’s golden age
Abdel Halim Hafez, born in 1929 in the Nile Delta, became one of the most beloved singers in…