Africa is known for its cultural diversity and very lively traditions. It has a rich, varied musical landscape cutting across many genres. Well, from the rhythmic beats of West Africa to the soulful melodies emerging from Southern Africa, the music of this continent is as diversified as the people that inhabit it. In this blog, we will take a closer look at a few of the best currently buzzing music genres from Africa.
1. Afrobeat
The roots of Afrobeat are in Nigeria, and it developed in the late 60s. It is somewhat based on utilizing traditional African rhythms but also infusion with jazz, funk, and highlife music. Fela Kuti revolutionized African music with his energetic and socially conscious performances. One will automatically outline the hallmark of Afrobeat: intertwined rhythms and powerful brass sections that make it a powerful and danceable style. Today, the genre is carried forth by artists such as Burna Boy and Wizkid in bringing it to a broader public and injecting contemporary influences into it while remaining true to its solid foundation.
2. Highlife
Highlife music sprang up in Ghana at the opening of the 20th century and became popular all over West Africa. Highlife is an original genre that combines traditional African rhythms and Western guitar and trumpet, which confers on the music a smooth and melodic nature. It all started as an urban type of amusement and through many decades would fuse styles, including jazz and salsa. Famous highlife musicians are E. T. Mensah and Osibisa, the first to help widely spread the genre around the world.
3. Juju Music
Juju is a complicated Yoruba musical genre using the rich traditional rhythms and percussions out of Nigeria. It is based on the traditional Yoruba drums and incorporates the playing of electric guitars and keyboards into it. King Sunny Adé is a major prophet of this Juju faith and has been able to deliver Juju music into African and other commercial scenes. His use of the talking drum and other indigenous instruments set a standard to be unbeaten in this genre.
4. Makossa
A genre emanating from Cameroon, Makossa is a highly upbeat style with entrapping rhythmic patterns typical of the country. It was developed in the 1950s and had a huge impact from traditional Cameroonian music, therefore carrying a strong undercurrent of bass lines with danceable grooves. Some artists, like Manu Dibango doing fusion between jazz and makossa, have also brought the music to international recognition and further onto the world scene. Makossa remains a huge part of the Cameroonian culture as well, influencing other such varied styles of African music.
5. Mbaqanga
Mbaqanga is a music style that originated in South Africa in the 1960s. This has traditional Zulu music as well as jazz, swing, and bebop. The clowning Mbaqanga music with its infectious rhythms was to capture the Populist imagination in the townships in a big way; hence, very soon, the likes of Mahlatoan and the Mahotella Queens played a major role in popularizing the genre. The music is quite upbeat and energetic, hence a favorite at parties or in social gatherings.
6. Kwaito
The genre of music known as Kwaito sprouted in the 1990s, haunting the streets of South Africa by a mixture of traditional African sounds, house music, and hip-hop. This represents a type of movement within post-apartheid culture that reflects the experiences and aspirations of South African youth. With its chilled beats and sometimes political lyrics, Kwaito offers a contemporary snapshot of life in South Africa. In fact, central to the genre are acts such as Mzambiya and Boom Shaka, which have both done much to define the way it has been shaped into its present form and to create its widespread appeal.
7. Taarab
A mixture of Swahili poetry laced with various influences, from Arabic to Indian and Western music, Taarab was born in Zanzibar and is characterized by its emotive melodies and lush orchestration. The music relates to the complex arrangements that envelop poetic lyrics and can generally be seen as a reflection of the diverse cultural heritage of the Swahili coast. Legends like Siti binti Saad, modern artists of the caliber of Bi Kidude or such, have contributed powerfully to shape and popularize Taarab music.
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African music is, quite truly, a textile woven with diverse threads both of rhythm, melody, and overall culture. Each genre provides a view into the rich heritage of the continent, the background to which includes the narratives of history, tradition, and social dynamics. African music vibrantly remains and is shared with audiences all around the world in such forms as infectious Afrobeat, Taarab’s lingering heartaches, and pulsing energy in Juju. Exploring these genres will give us more appreciation for the contribution to Africa’s music heritage and influence worldwide.
