The list below was published in January , since when this page has had over half a million hits. In the introduction below I explained what I was trying to achieve, while also admitting to the limitations of my own knowledge. Despite a few flaws, the list remains a decent introduction to African music, so please enjoy! On my new website you can listen to over songs from each and every African country. African music is an incredibly rich and fertile ground.

Want to add to the discussion?

Big Tril – Parte After Parte
As this rich and ever-developing culture embraces all races found in South Africa, you get a beautiful mix of different sounds and rhythms. Fact: Since , Masekela played music that protested apartheid, slavery, government and spoke of the hardships that many faced. Listen here. Fact: He is a modern day one-man folk band. He mixes guitar, ukulele, harmonica and beatbox skills, along with echos and distortion units, that leave you literally awe-struck. Fact: Before hitting the music scene, he received an honors degree in Computer Engineering and tried his hand in Geology. Fact: He was a symbol of the new South Africa and was gunned down in , in a senseless carjacking. Rest in peace Lucky Dube!
William Onyeabor – Good Name
From hard-hitting grooves to catchy dance anthems, here is the ultimate year-end African music playlist. From high-energy dance crazes like Nigeria's zanku to the groovy tunes of South Africa's amapiano, has been a strong year for popular African music. Compiling a shortlist of the top African songs of can be quite tricky as each country, region and even genre coming from the continent and its diaspora is insular - overflowing with straight hits. This roundup, however, highlights the youth and African women artists, acknowledges the dominance once again of Nigeria's popular music scene and also takes stats from streaming platforms into account.
Written by Phillip Williams Published on From the s to now, this suite of tracks from across the continent prove that Africa has a long tradition of experimental, body-moving electronic composition. Traditionally, plenty has stood in the way of an African musician hoping to make a splash on the world stage. Still, this kind of isolation often breeds a can-do attitude, and over the years, countries like Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa have proven remarkable breeding grounds for a remarkable array of new sounds and styles. William Onyeabor — Good Name. A film, Who Is William Onyeabor? Francis Bebey — Super Jungle. A restless soul and a rare intelligence, Francis Bebey had already worked as a sculptor, attended the Sorbonne in Paris, and studied journalism and media studies at NYU when he started making music in the late s. Noir Et Blanc must have sounded like a spaceship landing when it came out on Crammed Discs in Congo-born musician Bony Bikaye was living in Belgium and making a record with a traditional soukous band when he struck up a conversation with the French producer Hector Zazou.