Best Afropop
An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba is a 1965 collaborative album by South African singer Miriam Makeba and American singer Harry Belafonte. Drawing on South African songs and languages, the record addressed apartheid and presented African musical material to an international folk audience. It won the...
Pata Pata is a 1967 studio album by South African singer Miriam Makeba, named after the song with which she became widely associated internationally. The title track originated in South Africa and refers to a township dance; Makeba sings much of it in Xhosa, with a spoken English passage explaining...
Released in 1995, Né La Thiass is the major-label debut album by Senegalese singer, guitarist, and percussionist Cheikh Lô, produced by Youssou N'Dour. The record is distinguished by its smooth blending of Senegalese mbalax rhythms with Congolese rumba, acoustic folk, and subtle elements of Cuban mu...
Released in 1991, Logozo is the major-label international debut album by Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo. The album is characterized by its vibrant fusion of traditional West African rhythms with African pop, funk, jazz, and Afrobeat elements. Featuring prominent collaborations with international mu...
Bembeya Jazz National is a landmark album by Guinea's most prominent state-sponsored orchestra, active from the 1960s through the 1970s. The group was formed in 1961 in the town of Beyla and named after the Bembéya River. Under Guinea's post-independence cultural policy directed by President Sékou T...
Manu Dibango was a Cameroonian saxophonist, vibraphonist, composer, and bandleader who lived from 1933 to 2020. His music combined jazz, funk, rhythm and blues, and musical traditions from Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa, reflecting a career developed in both Africa and Europe. He became internatio...
"Oremi" is a 1998 album by Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo that explores the African roots of music in the Americas, specifically focusing on the connections between African traditions and American R&B. It serves as the first installment in a trilogy that continued with "Black Ivory Soul" and "Oyaya...
"Tuku Music" is a 1999 studio album by Zimbabwean guitarist and vocalist Oliver Mtukudzi. The record is significant for defining his unique Afro-pop style, which fans and critics subsequently dubbed "Tuku music." The album blends traditional Zimbabwean mbira rhythms and Shona culture with elements o...
Munia: The Tale is a studio album by Cameroonian bassist and vocalist Richard Bona, released in 2003. The record is a showcase of Bona's jazz fusion style, which integrates his intricate bass guitar work with West African vocal traditions and rhythmic structures. Sung in multiple languages including...
Kinshasa Succursale is an album by Belgian-Congolese musician and rapper Baloji. Recorded in Kinshasa, it combines hip-hop with Congolese rumba, soukous, funk, and musical traditions connected with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Baloji's Katangan background. Its songs examine migration, me...
Daby is the self-titled debut album by Mauritanian-born singer-songwriter Daby Touré, introducing his blend of West African musical heritage with contemporary acoustic pop to international listeners.
"7 Seconds" is a 1994 album by Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, featuring his famous duet with Neneh Cherry that introduced the mbalax genre to mainstream global audiences.
