Music
Freshlyground and “Waka Waka”: the South African band on the 2010 World Cup anthem
Freshlyground, a multiracial band from Cape Town, performed with Shakira on "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the…
AfroYard.net — African Music News, Releases & Artist Profiles
Latest Stories
Music
Them Mushrooms and “Jambo Bwana”: the Kenyan hotel-band song every tourist knows
Them Mushrooms, a Kenyan band from the Mombasa coast, recorded "Jambo Bwana" in 1982. The Swahili song, with…
Music
Boubacar Traoré: the Malian guitarist who disappeared for twenty years and came back
Boubacar Traoré, known as Kar Kar, was a star in Mali in the early 1960s, when his songs…
Music
Ayọ: the German-Nigerian singer whose “Down on My Knees” became a European hit
Ayọ, born Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin in Germany to a Nigerian father and a Romani mother, released her debut…
Music
Jose Chameleone: the Ugandan star who ruled East African music for two decades
Jose Chameleone, born Joseph Mayanja in Kampala in 1979, became one of East Africa's biggest music stars after…
Arts + Culture
Kuba cloth: the raffia textiles of the Kuba Kingdom in Congo
Kuba cloth, made from raffia palm fibre in the Kuba Kingdom of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is…
Arts + Culture
Esther Mahlangu: the Ndebele painter who covered a BMW in her patterns
Esther Mahlangu, born in 1935 in Mpumalanga, South Africa, carried the Ndebele tradition of geometric house painting onto…
Arts + Culture
Bogolanfini: the Malian mud cloth painted with fermented earth
Bogolanfini, or mud cloth, is a Malian textile made by the Bamana people. Cotton is dyed with leaves…
Arts + Culture
Adire: the indigo resist-dyed cloth of Abeokuta and the women who made it
Adire is a Yoruba resist-dyed cloth, traditionally dyed with indigo by women in Abeokuta and other towns. Patterns…
Arts + Culture
Shaku shaku: the Lagos street dance that shaped Nigerian pop in 2017 and 2018
Shaku shaku, a dance from the streets of Lagos, took over Nigerian music in 2017 and 2018. Its…