Music
A state orchestra, a sung history of Samory Touré and a tragedy in 1973: Bembeya Jazz National of Guinea
Bembeya Jazz National was formed in 1961 in Beyla, Guinea, and became the country's most popular state-supported band…
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Actress, street theatre performer and Grammy nominee: Fatoumata Diawara’s Malian journey
Fatoumata Diawara, born in Côte d'Ivoire in 1982 to Malian parents, began as an actress in films such…
Music
Daddy Lumba, 1964 to 2025: from the Lumba Brothers in Germany to highlife royalty
Daddy Lumba, born Charles Kwadwo Fosu in Nsuta, Ashanti, in 1964, began his career in Germany with Nana…
Music
Benin’s funkiest band was rediscovered by record collectors: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou was founded in 1968 by Mélomé Clément in Cotonou, Benin. Mixing vodun rhythms with…
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The slow soukous of tcha tcho and a sold-out Bercy: Koffi Olomidé’s long reign in Congolese music
Koffi Olomidé, born Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba in Kisangani in 1956, introduced the slower soukous style known as…
Music
From Quartier Latin to Tokooos: Fally Ipupa, the modern king of Congolese music
Fally Ipupa, born in Kinshasa in 1977, rose through Koffi Olomidé's Quartier Latin International before launching a solo…
Music
The log drum that shook Africa: how amapiano grew from South African townships
Amapiano emerged in South Africa's Gauteng townships in the 2010s, blending deep house, jazz, soul and kwaito with…
Music
From the streets of Masaka to the Grammys: Eddy Kenzo and “Sitya Loss”
Eddy Kenzo, born Edrisah Musuuza in Masaka, Uganda, lost his mother at about five and spent 13 years…
Music
From a Cameroonian village to New York’s jazz stages: Richard Bona and the bass
Richard Bona, born in Minta, Cameroon, in 1967, grew up in a family of musicians and switched to…
Music
The Queen of African Rumba: how Mbilia Bel became Afrisa International’s star voice
Mbilia Bel, born Marie-Claire Mboyo Moseka in Kinshasa in 1959, joined Tabu Ley Rochereau's Afrisa International in 1981…