Popular African Music

African popular music has undergone many transformations in the last twenty years. It has not only been influenced by indigenous African sounds, but international influences have also begun to alter it. Innovations and sounds from the African diaspora have found their way into African popular music and have helped the style establish a new, far-reaching global presence.

Soukous music, from the Congo, has become very popular all over the continent of Africa. It was developed in the early part of the twentieth century and had an influence on the dance culture of Africa in the seventies, inspiring several dances. However, in the last twenty years or so, Congolese music of this type has begun to be seen as a pan-African musical style. Artists like Kekele are examples of performers of this music, which now tends to have a generic sound and a broad appeal.

Zouglou is a style of popular music from the Ivory Coast that was developed in the early 1990s. It was a satirical style of music influenced by zouk. Some of the artists who perform zouglou are Mercenaires and Yode et Siro.

One of the most interesting developments has been integration of African music with African-American music. African-American music has had a very important impact on the development of American music of all kinds, from gospel to blues to jazz to rock techno to rap. And now these influences, originally from Africa, are making their way back across the ocean, repackaged in their Americanized form and changing how African popular music sounds and inspiring new African artists. An example of this phenomenon would be Vieux Farka Toure, son of the late Ali Farka Toure, also a musician, from the West African nation of Mali, who plays West African music with a distinctly American blues style. American hip-hop has had an even greater impact on African popular music, as one can judge by the number of African hip-hop artists that exist. Some of these artists include Les Nubians, from Cameroon, Zola from South Africa, Positive Black Soul from Senegal, and Ya Kid K from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of these artists rap in English, while some rap in tribal languages. In Senegalese hip-hop, for instance, many of the artists rap in Wolof. African hip-hop artists are now rapping and rhyming about the social injustices in their own societies, much like their African-American predecessors did in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But instead of discussing police brutality, white privilege, and urban poverty in the world’s wealthiest nation, these hip-hop artists are bringing attention to war, famine, child soldiers, and the plight of those infected with HIV.

The influence of hip-hop on African popular music has also led to the development of new genres on the continent. Rap dogba, for instance, is from the Ivory Coast and has a similar style to that of American gangsta rap. Kwaito is from South Africa and combines elements of house, hip-hop, and indigenous African music. Instead of being sung, the lyrics are typically shouted over the music. In Ghana, the genre of hiplife has become popular. Hiplife is a blending of hip-hop and the Ghanaian musical genre of highlife, which is characterized by deep bass sounds and horn instrumentation reminiscent of American jazz. More modern versions of this music tend to have a synthesizer beat. Hiplife is gaining a following beyond Africa and into Europe.

The launching of MTV Base in Africa in 2005 in the African countries of Kenya and South Africa has had an impact as well. MTV Base is a channel focusing on global music and focuses on genres such as reggae music and rhythm and blues. When launched, this channel was meant for young people in Africa and at first heavily exposed them to American music of all kinds. The goal of this venture has been to develop young African musical talent and help these artists create a local and international following on par with the American and European artists that dominate the channel. As a result of this venture, Africa is beginning to develop a youth music industry.

African music has evolved, diversified, and become more noticeable on the world stage in the last two decades. This development is a result of a combination of outside influences and indigenous music and social issues. With the launching of MTV Base Africa, African popular music is likely to continue to develop and have its own influence on the soundtrack of the world.