African music the actual African diaspora likes

Interesting observation really. When I travel, I try to find neighborhoods and restaurants the locals like, should do the same with music. Worth a listen at least.

 


"Tres Tres Fort (Dig)" (Staff Benda Bilili)

The Troxy in east London, and 2,500 pairs of hands are in the air. It’s been four years since the R&B duo P-Square played Britain. They’re household names back home in Lagos, were named artist of the year at this year’s Kora African music awards in Burkina Faso, and the brothers’ hook-driven blend of western and African rhythms has brought London’s Nigerian community out in force. “They’re just so wicked, man,” says a teary-eyed twentysomething over screams. “Where’ve you been?” she adds, incredulous, when I tell her I’ve only just discovered them.

Lately, I’ve been looking for African artists other than those beloved of the world music scene, which has had the west African colossi Salif Keita, Baaba Maal and Youssou N’Dour on heavy rotation for years. When they – and the likes of the Gibson-toting Malian chanteuse Rokia Traoré, the funky Congolese veterans Staff Benda Bilili and the red clay-smeared Ivorian diva Dobet Gnahore – come to Britain, they play to crowds that are largely white and middle-class, with little sign of the African diaspora. So there must be a whole other bunch of African artists whom Britain’s African communities are listening to.

(click to continue reading African music the actual African diaspora likes | Music | The Guardian.)


"Danger" (P-square)


"Bowmboi" (Rokia Traore)

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