b. 16 June 1962, Lagos, Nigeria. Son of the legendary Nigerian Afro-Beat pioneer, Fela Kuti, Femi is a worthy successor to his father and has added a new dimension to the polyrhythmic sound in which his father specialised. Femi has added the exuberan…

Raised in Cameroon, torn between the divisive ethnic groups of his mother's and father's families, Manu Dibango was easily distracted from the traditions of his homeland. As a world traveler and alto saxophonist, he soaked up diverse influences, incl…

Since collaborating with Peter Gabriel in the 1980s, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has become familiar to audiences around the world. With his complex, topical music, N'Dour is the primary exponent of the mbalax sound, which combines traditional W…

Arguably the most devoted students of the legendary Nigerian Afrobeat star Fela Kuti, Antibalas (Spanish for bulletproof) are a multi-ethnic ensemble from Brooklyn, New York. Both musically and ideologically inspired by Kuti, Antibalas have released …

Cuba's most well-loved masters of the traditional "son" style gathered to make the one-of-a-kind BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB album in 1996. A tribute to these aging but masterful veterans of the Cuban musical form, it was produced and organized by Ry Coo…

One of the most popular and important performers of the Nigerian musical style known as Juju--a fluid, highly rhythmic music that used traditional African percussion to create a dense, multi-layered sound--King Sunny Ade brought new stylistic concept…

Born in Benin, West Africa, Angelique Kidjo spices her funky, vocal-driven dance music with rhythmic and percussive details of her homeland. The distinctly African drumbeats on most of her albums, as well as the richness of her voice and the rhythm o…

Formed in the early 1990s by Marie Daulne, who was born in Zaire and raised in Europe, Zap Mama is a (mostly) a cappella group of female singers whose voices blend Christian choral music, Afropop, Pygmy vocalizations, and vocal percussion, and have i…

Tosca is essentially a side-project for Richard Dorfmeister, one half of Austrian dub-breaks artists Kruder And Dorfmeister and is a collaboration with his old school friend, Richard Huber. Tosca's 1997 debut, Opera, established the duo's unusual and…

b. 12 November 1953, Podor, Senegal. Vocalist and guitarist Maal had humble origins, growing up in the sparsely populated town of Podor, where his father worked in the fields, but also had the honour of calling worshippers to the mosque using song. T…

The unrelenting intensity of James Brown's music has made him one of the most recognizable and influential performers since the 1950s. Starting out as a gospel singer, Brown soon switched to R&B and started scoring hits. As the '60s progressed, the s…

Originally from southern France with family roots in the flamenco tradition, the Gipsy Kings achieved enormous mainstream success in the late 1980s with their flamenco-pop. Details like infectious, rhythmic hand-clapping, rich vocals, and precise gui…

As Thievery Corporation, Eric Hilton and Rob Garza started working together in the mid-1990s, crafting a sound initially rooted in electronica, but deeply influenced by dub, Latin jazz, and bossa nova. Their atmospheric, low-key style has made the Wa…

Malian musician Salif Keita had an uphill battle on his way to become the country's most renowned singer/songwriter. A direct descendent of Mali's royal family, he was forbidden by custom to become a musician, but he boldly cast aside tradition. A vi…

Few musicians have managed to change the course of music--trumpeter Miles Davis did it several times. An early disciple of Charlie Parker, Davis created an austere, understated approach that became the model for cool. His superb albums in the 1950s m…

From the South African musical style mbube, Ladysmith Black Mambazo popularized a more modern, sophisticated offshoot known as iscathamiya. They quickly became the genre's leading practitioners, with a vocal harmony blend that incorporated everything…

b. Khaled Hadj Brahim, 29 February 1960, Sidi-El-Houari, Oran, Algeria. Singing and playing accordion from an early age, Khaled dropped out of school to pursue a musical career in spite of the disapproval of his father (a policeman). From 1976 he rel…

Like many rappers, New York underground hip-hop hero Mos Def was first heard on guest appearances with other artists, in this case Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. It was his 1998 collaboration with the like-minded Talib Kweli in the duo Black Star tha…

b. 1961, Korin, Mali. Converging the traditional sounds of griot and western dance music, Bagayogo has been nicknamed "Techno Issa" in his home country. The singer-songwriter began singing and playing the kamelégoni (a six-stringed harp, traditionall…

Since 1993 Tarika have established a reputation for themselves on the world music circuit and become successful enough to be called Madagascars biggest musical export The five-piece band whose name translates simply as the group led by singer and per…