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4. Zilin. Zilinis a style rooted in Benin’s unique traditional vocal technique. The strong influence of the voodoo religion is an important part of Benin, which tells of healing and rejuvenating talismans (fetishes). Angelique Kidjo– the queen of African crossover pop, uses the zilinvocal technique.
- Hassan Hakmoun
Hassan’s music is rooted in his playing of the sintir, the...
- Maryam Mursal
The life story of Somalia-born and Denmark-based vocalist...
- Ghorwane
Ghorwane chose to base their music on traditional Mozambican...
- The Drummers of Burundi
The Drummers of Burundi are Master Drummers from the small...
- Thomas Mapfumo
In the 1990s, Mapfumo toured and released his music abroad...
- Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana
Further exploration revealed that the music he’d half-heard,...
- Musicians of The Nile
Well before the world music wave, the Musicians of the Nile...
- En Mana Kuoyo
Since its initial release in 1993, En Mana Kuoyo has become...
- Hassan Hakmoun
- Overview
- History
African music, the musical sounds and practices of all indigenous peoples of Africa, including the Berber in the Sahara and the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoin (Hottentot) in Southern Africa. The music of European settler communities and that of Arab North Africa are not included in the present discussion. For the music of Islamic Africa, see Islamic a...
It is widely acknowledged that African music has undergone frequent and decisive changes throughout the centuries. What is termed traditional music today is probably very different from African music in former times. Nor has African music in the past been rigidly linked to specific ethnic groups. The individual musician, his style and creativity, have always played an important role.
The material sources for the study of African music history include archaeological and other objects, pictorial sources (rock paintings, petroglyphs, book illustrations, drawings, paintings), oral historical sources, written sources (travelers’ accounts, field notes, inscriptions in Arabic and in African and European languages), musical notations, sound recordings, photographs and motion pictures, and videotape.
In ancient times the musical cultures of sub-Saharan Africa extended into North Africa. Between circa 8000 and 3000 bc, climatic changes in the Sahara, with a marked wet trend, extended the flora and fauna of the savanna into the southern Sahara and its central highlands. During this period, human occupation of the Sahara greatly increased, and, along rivers and small lakes, Neolithic, or New Stone Age, cultures with a so-called aquatic lifestyle extended from the western Sahara into the Nile River valley. The aquatic cultures began to break up gradually between 5000 and 3000 bc, once the peak of the wet period had passed. The wet climate became more and more restricted to shrunken lakes and rivers and, to a greater extent, to the region of the upper Nile. Today remnants survive perhaps in the Lake Chad area and in the Nile swamps.
The cultures of the “Green Sahara” left behind a vast gallery of iconographic documents in the form of rock paintings, among which are some of the earliest internal sources on African music. One is a vivid dance scene discovered in 1956 by the French ethnologist Henri Lhote in the Tassili-n-Ajjer plateau of Algeria. Attributed on stylistic grounds to the Saharan period of the Neolithic hunters (c. 6000–4000 bc), this painting is probably one of the oldest extant testimonies to music and dance in Africa. The body adornment and movement style are reminiscent of dance styles still found in many African societies.
Some of the earliest sources on African music are archaeological. Although musical instruments made of vegetable materials have not survived in the deposits of sub-Saharan climatic zones, archaeological source material on Nigerian music has been supplied by the representations of musical instruments on stone or terra-cotta from Ife, Yorubaland. These representations show considerable agreement with traditional accounts of their origins. From the 10th to the 14th century ad, ig̀bìn drums (a set of footed cylindrical drums) seem to have been used. The dùndún pressure drum, now associated with Yoruba culture and known in a broad belt across the savanna region, may have been introduced around the 15th century, since it appears in plaques made during that period in the kingdom of Benin. The Yoruba dùndún drums are now used as “talking drums” in accompaniment to oriki (praise name) poetry (see Oral traditions). The double iron clapperless bell seems to have preceded the talking drum. Pellet bells and tubular bells with clappers were known by the 15th century.
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African music includes the genres makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva, afrobeat, afrofusion, mbalax, Congolese rumba, soukous, ndombolo, makossa, kizomba, taarab and others. [1] African music also uses a large variety of instruments from all across the continent. The music and dance of the African diaspora, formed to ...
- Semba. Kicking off the list with one of the most popular music genres in Africa that have been popular since the 20th century. The music genre comes from Angola and is still commonly practiced to this day.
- Mbalax. Mbalax, also known as “Mbalakh”, is arguably the most popular music style in Senegal and Gambia. The music genre originates from the rite ceremonies and celebrations of the Serer’s West African ethnic group.
- Highlife. Highlife is a music genre that is widely popular in almost all English-speaking countries of West Africa. It originated throughout the first decades of the 1900s in present-day Ghana when it was a part of the British Empire.
- Soukous. Soukous comes from the French word “secousse”, which means “jolt” or “shock”. This can give you an insight into the music genre! The soukous is a music genre and dance that originates from Zaire, currently known as “The Democratic Republic of Congo”.
Ceremonial Significance: Often tied to rituals, ceremonies, and storytelling, traditional music is an integral part of African cultural practices. 1.3 Example. The talking drums of West Africa, such as the Yoruba drum, are iconic examples of traditional African music, communicating complex messages through rhythmic patterns. 2. Afrobeat 2.1 ...
Feb 1, 2023 · African music is a genre that is incredibly diverse and is full of a wide range of musical styles. While there are many different types of music from this region, here are eight of the most popular and distinctive types of African music. 1. Highlife: Originating in Ghana and Nigeria, highlife is a fusion of African music with Caribbean and ...
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Oct 11, 2024 · African music - Rhythms, Instruments, Styles: In Africa it is unrealistic to separate music from dance or from bodily movement. In Europe the body tends to be used as a single block, while in African and African American dance it seems to be “polycentric”—that is, split into several independent body areas or “centers.” Likewise, the playing of African musical instruments involves a ...
