Afrobeat master Kiala Nzavotunga is a founding member of the band Ghetto Blaster (1984 – 2006) and Fela Kuti’s band. Kiala Nzavotunga was born in…
Artist Profiles: Kiala Nzavotunga
Category: Artist Profiles
Artist Profiles: Papa Wemba
Papa Wemba was born Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in Kazai, in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). From humble village beginnings in…
Artist Profiles: Njacko Backo
Njacko Backo is a percussionist and singer. He was born in 1958 in the hillside village of Bazu, Cameroon. After studying under his village elders…
Artist Profiles: Manu Dibango
Emmanuel Dibango N’Djoké was born on December 12 of 1933 in Duala, Cameroon. Manu Dibango arrived to Europe as a young student. With his extraordinary…
Artist Profiles: Blick Bassy
Born in 1974, singer, songwriter, guitarist and percussionist Blick Bassy grew up with 20 siblings in Cameroon’s capital Yaunde, a city where people from all…
Artist Profiles: Drummers of Burundi
The spectacular rhythms of The Drummers of Burundi have been cited as inspirational to rock and folk musicians The Clash, Echo & The Bunnymen, Joni…
Artist Profiles: Alif Naaba
Alif Naaba has been steeped in the musical traditions of Burkina Faso, West Africa. His Afropop style combines pulsating polyrhythmic percussion, kora textures, and funky…
Artist Profiles: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo is a national institution in Benin, West Africa. Formed during the late 1960s, they soundtracked the years following Benin’s independence under Kerekou’s Marxist-Leninist…
Artist Profiles: Gnonnas Pedro
Gnonnan Sossou Pierre Kouassivi, better known as Gnonnas Pedro, was a singer-songwriter, salsero and musician born in Lokossa, Benin. Gnonnas Pedro had always excelled in…
Artist Profiles: Gangbe Brass Band
Gangbe Brass Band promotes the originality of the music of Benin combining an original mixture of jazz and Beninese traditional music: voodoo rhythms (Sato, Zinti,…