Music
From shoeshine boy to Ethiopian legend: Mahmoud Ahmed and Erè Mèla Mèla
Mahmoud Ahmed, born in Addis Ababa's Mercato district in 1941, worked as a shoeshiner and a handyman at…
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“The Voice” of Ethiopia’s golden age: Tilahun Gessesse
Tilahun Gessesse (1940 to 2009), born in Waliso, was nicknamed "The Voice" for his tenor during Ethiopia's musical…
Music
A guitar tuned like an n’goni: Habib Koité and Bamada
Habib Koité, from a lineage of Khassonké griots, developed a guitar style that tunes the instrument to a…
Music
Dreadlocks, Sufi faith and a debut produced by Youssou N’Dour: Cheikh Lô
Cheikh Lô, born in 1955 to Senegalese parents in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, played with Orchestre Volta Jazz before…
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From Warri to Hamburg: Nneka, “Heartbeat” and songs about the Niger Delta
Nneka, born Nneka Lucia Egbuna in Warri in 1980 to a German mother and Nigerian father, moved to…
Music
Forced out of the north by a music ban: the story of Songhoy Blues
Songhoy Blues formed in Bamako after its members fled northern Mali, where the jihadist group Ansar Dine banned…
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A guitar left behind by relatives: Bombino and the Tuareg desert blues
Bombino, born Omara Moctar in 1980 near Agadez in Niger, taught himself guitar in exile in Algeria after…
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A diplomat’s daughter who made Malian music modern: Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré, born in Mali in 1974, travelled widely as the daughter of a diplomat and blended Malian…
Music
Guitar solos after every verse: how Kanda Bongo Man sped up soukous and started kwassa kwassa
Kanda Bongo Man, born in 1955 in the Congo, began singing in 1973 and found success after moving…
Music
“Kyenkyen Bi Adi M’awu” and the Cubano Fiestas: the highlife of Alhaji K. Frimpong
Alhaji K. Frimpong (1939 to 2005), born in Ofoase in the Ashanti Region, was a Ghanaian highlife singer…