A superstar in his native Senegal, spiritual pop singer Baaba Maal was not even born to be a performer -- in West African culture, tradition dictates that the ancient griot caste must produce the singers and storytellers, and Maal was born in the city of Podor in 1953 into the fisherman's caste. Despite his parents' insistence that he become a... [+] Read More

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In the two years that they've been together, Benkadi International has brought the Mandinka music of Africa to Holland and the Netherlands. Although they've incorporated influences of jazz and funk, the group continues to emphasize the traditional instrumentation of African music.

Benkadi International was formed shortly after the... [+] Read More

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Boukman Eksperyans announce their radicalism in their name, an allusion to Boukman the slave who initiated the island's 1804 independence uprising. Always aware that freedom and culture go hand in hand, this ten-member band sing in the sporadically outlawed creole tongue and blend African religious motifs and street slang into a wild, syncretic... [+] Read More

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The son of Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Femi Kuti spent years playing in his father's band before eventually rising to superstardom following his father's death in the late '90s. Since few artists can match his father's legacy of not only music but influence, Femi's relation as his son is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand,... [+] Read More

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Idrissa Soumaoro, born near Bamako in 1949, is one of the relative unknowns in Malian music, taking part in a number of important developments, but letting others take the spotlight in general. His early years in music were spent as part of les Ambassadeurs alongside Salif Keita and Kante Manfila in their formative years. After his time as a... [+] Read More

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Manfila was born into a jali family and played balafon and guitar as a child. He joined Les Ballets Africains, moved to Bamako during the '60s and joined the Rail Band, which featured Salif Keita and Mory Kante at the time. He and Keita moved over to Les Ambassadeurs in the early '70s, beginning a fruitful collaborative relationship. Both... [+] Read More

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In 1990, Wassoulou singer Sangare became a superstar in West Africa with Moussolou, which sold an astonishing 250,000 copies (many more were likely pirated). She received much of her attention for writing and singing lyrics that specifically addressed concerns of women in modern West African society, such as the conflict between marriage and... [+] Read More

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Sebunjo Joel's life can truely be described as that of a tuareg. A descriptive musical journey through Uganda, Kenya,Mali,Tanzania and to the musical burstling cities of Dakar and Banjul in Senegal and Gambia indeed resulting into cultural and stylistic variety.A true Ambassador of JALI and kora having studied under Jali Alagi Mbye, Jalibah... [+] Read More

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The Super Rail Band, or the Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la Gare, Bamako, to give them their full name, might be Mali's best-kept secret. Loved by world music cognoscenti, they've never found a general audience, due in large part to having only a few, poorly-distributed records. But as well as being an incubator for some of the... [+] Read More

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Formed by poet, musician, and vocalist Gilbert Pounia, Ziskakan has resisted the modern disco music of the West Indies in favor of more traditional sounds. Singing in his native Creole language, Pounia continues to be accompanied by large drums, water bottle resonators, and kayamb, a traditional instrument built by filling stems of cane with... [+] Read More

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