Arts + Culture
Her first album sold over a million copies: Salawa Abeni, the Queen of Waka music
Salawa Abeni, from Ijebu Waterside in Ogun State, released her debut album, Late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, in…
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The first Ghanaian to win a MOBO: how Samini took Ghanaian dancehall to London in 2006
In September 2006, Ghanaian dancehall and reggae artist Samini won Best African Act at the MOBO Awards in…
Music
The Nigeria and Ghana rivalry that keeps both sides sharp
Jollof arguments aside, the music rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana is loud in public and collaborative in private,…
Arts + Culture
A law student, a young beatmaker and a record that set the standard for hiplife: Obrafour’s Pae Mu Ka
Pae Mu Ka, the debut album by Ghanaian rapper Obrafour, was released in November 1999, produced by Hammer…
Arts + Culture
Ebo Taylor made his first international album at 74 and died at 90: the Saltpond guitarist who bridged highlife and Afrobeat
Ebo Taylor, the Ghanaian guitarist, composer and arranger who blended highlife with Afrobeat, was born on 6 January…
Arts + Culture
Dead at 32 on the road to a show: Cardinal Rex Lawson, “Sawale” and the highlife of the 1960s
Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, born in Buguma in present-day Rivers State on 4 March 1938, was one of…
Arts + Culture
A groaner, three singers and a band that invented a style: Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens were brought together in Johannesburg in 1964 by producer Rupert Bopape at Gallo.…
Arts + Culture
They called him the evil genius of highlife: Victor Olaiya, the trumpeter who gave Fela a job
Victor Abimbola Olaiya, the Nigerian trumpeter known as the evil genius of highlife, was born on 31 December…
Music
Fifteen albums to start with if African music is new to you
New to African music? Fifteen albums, from Burna Boy and Wizkid to Kabza De Small, Sauti Sol and…
Arts + Culture
South Africa banned “Fire in Soweto”. The townships played it anyway: Sonny Okosuns and the songs against apartheid
In 1977, Nigerian musician Sonny Okosuns released "Fire in Soweto" and "Papa's Land", attacks on apartheid South Africa.…