It's Afro-Pop Week!
 

Africa is a continent of 47 countries, I think, and pop music as such has been around for about sixty years, so if we posted just one pop song from each country, for each year, this thread would accumulate 2,820 clips.

Let`s not be too intimidated, though.
Pretty much at random, here are a few clips which illustrate what I see as a common trait in Afro-pop: musicians who don`t mind sounding, and showing themselves to be cheerful :



^ Tarika pretty much re-invented Madagascan pop music, and this is their irrepressible hit from 2001, celebrating Koba, a local pastry. If you don`t click on anything else today, you should at least give this one a go !



^ In 1999 Cheikh N`Digel Lo from Senegal had a hit with M`Beddemi. OK, maybe he doesn`t look too cheerful, but he`s got a great voice.



^ In 2006, Samba Mapangala, from the Congo, showed us how to live it up in style. ( To see this one, you have to click where it says Ver en Youtube )

So that`s three countries and three years; only 2,817 clips to go ...

Yo! Excellent thread!
Here are some of my favourite vintage African tunes:
Ochestra Super Mazembe: Kasongo (Kenya) - guess where I took my dj name :)

Juma Muhina: Dada Mwajuma (Kenya)

Sir Victor Uwaifo: Guitar Boy (Nigeria)

Prince Nico Mbarga: Aki Special (Nigeria)

^ Yes, as always, Pedestrian has done an excellent job of setting up the thread and providing some fundamental info about the genre.

^ With a name like that you must be a real fan ! I`ve heard of Orchestra Super Mazembe before, but never heard their music, so I was interested in your clip ; I liked the loose structure of the song, and the way it takes several unexpected turns.

This is a much more tightly structured song from Nigerian hit-maker Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey; it`s short, but he finds time for some trademark guitar playing half-way through. :-



Your other clips are all new to me, djsupermazembe ; great stuff !

:) This music makes me happy. I love love LOVE afro-pop in all its varieties. I'd be remissed if I didn't mention one of the absolute greats of afrobeat and jazz, Fela Kuti.



The above song actually sparked tremendous violence in Nigeria when it was released in 1977. The song is a biting satire of the Nigerian military of the time, using "zombie" as a metaphor for their military tactics. One thousand Nigerian soldiers attacked Kuti's commune where he lived with his family, friends, and fellow musicians. During the attack he was nearly beaten to death, and the soldiers threw his mother out of a window, sustaining injuries which killed her a few days later.

The government initially denied responsibility for the attacks, claiming it was the work of a lone, yet identified soldier. In response, he sent his mother's coffin to a Nigerian barracks.

Powerful stuff.

Naturally, Fela...

Fuck yeah Expensive Shit! I was going to post that one but figured I'd do the Zombie anecdote instead.

i don't really listen much to African "pop"

jazz, blues and ethnic music yes

blues like Ali Farka Toure

jazz like "Township Jive"

and ethnic like "mbanqa" and "mbalax"

hardly ever touch pop - the closest is "The Bundu Boys" and "Fela Kuti" (even if I only have Confusion/Gentleman, which is more psyche than pop, anyways)

Here`s a song from a Guinean band who became so popular that the president nationalised them and they were obliged to add "National" to their name. This is a single that they released in the early 1970`s; a happy mix of interesting instruments recorded with great clarity :-

From Equatorial Guinea, Hijas del Sol (1992-2006):