South Africa: South African Bongeziwe Mabandla Releases Fourth Studio Album, Amaxesha
[Afropop] The whole Bongeziwe experience is conceptual in nature in the vein of The Miseducation of Lauren Hill, from an artist he is deeply inspired by. However Bongeziwe is a completely South African original in his falsetto voice, simple textuality …
Zimbabwe: Bantu Spaceship Remakes Zimbabwean Roots Pop
[Afropop] Bantu Spaceship is a new act out of Harare, Zimbabwe, an Afro-futuristic project with deep ties in the past of the country’s popular music. Producer Joshua Madalitso Chiundiza cut his teeth with the alternative hip-hop band The Monkey Nuts. H…
Mali: Tinariwen to Release New Album May 19 and Launch Tour May 27
[Afropop] In 2022, Mali’s pioneering Tuareg rock band, Tinariwen, had to cancel their 20-date North American tour at the last moment due to visa issues. After more than a month of effort, they were denied in the final moments, yet another example of ho…
Africa: Georges Collinet and Banning Eyre Host Afropop the African Rivers Project At the Kennedy Center
[Afropop] Final rehearsals with the newly coined Niger River Ensemble are underway for the bid show tomorrow at the Eisenhower Theater, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.. The evening of music focused on two great African Rivers will be emceed by th…
Mali: Tamikrest’s Journey From Kidal to the World
[Afropop] At GlobalFEST 2023 in New York City, we had the chance to hear one of the great bands of modern Tuareg music, sometimes called assuf (sadness) or ichumar (derived from the French word chomeur for “unemployed”), or as Western journalists somet…
Benin: Angelique Kidjo Wins 2023 Polar Music Award
[Afropop] Well, she’s done it again! Another unprecedented honour for the genre-bending diva of Benin, France and Brooklyn, the 21st century’s Mama Africa, Angelique Kidjo.
Cameroon: New Single ‘Hola Me’ By Blick Bassy From New Album ‘Madíbá’
[Afropop] In recognition of World Water Day Blick Bassy announces the release details for his new album, ‘Madíbá’, due out on May 26, 2023 via InFiné (Sabrina Bellaouel). His fourth album, ‘Madiba’ is sung in the Baasa language of France…
Africa: Baaba Maal, Just Being
[Afropop] Baaba Maal is an icon of African music. Alone with his lifelong friend and accompanist Mansour Seck, with his band Dande Lenol, or in any number of collaborations–including in the soundtrack to both Black Pantherfilms–he never fails to amaz…
Africa: Moonlight Benjamin Rolls Out New Album Wayo
[Afropop] Moonlight Benjamin is a Haitian-born singer/songwriter/bandleader living in France since 2002. Her music is unique on the Haitian diaspora scene. She fuses the gut-level passion of Haitian roots music with the blare and bravado on of electric…
Mauritius: Discography – Rock ‘N’ Roll Pioneer Maurice Rocco On Film
[Afropop] Every month is Black History Month at Afropop and in celebration of February we are taking a deep dive into rock ‘n’ roll´s DNA in the form of Maurice Rocco. Black music is a continuum with no beginning or end and rock ‘n’ roll was already th…