The continent of Africa has a rich and diverse musical heritage that many people in the world never get to enjoy due to lack of exposure and various other reasons. Many people know the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela, the late Fela Kuti and the late Miriam Makeba because those artists gained international recognition at some point in their respective careers as musicians. However, there are many hidden gems from all over the continent that you ought to take a listen to. This list points out 7 such musicians. Good music is timeless so the artists mentioned on this list are not necessarily new comers.
Wambali Mkandawire (Malawi)
Wambali Mkandawire aka Mte Wambali is one of Malawi’s most prominent musicians. His genre of choice is Afro jazz. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who burns up the stage every time he performs at a live show. His lyrics are mostly in his native tongue Tumbuka and cover a wide variety of subjects ranging from African pride to religious themes. He has released 4 studio albums over the years with his most recent one, Calabrash Breath being released last year. He has been nominated for and received multiple awards including a Kora Award for Best Artiste from Southern Africa for his album Zani Muone.
Zahara (South Africa)
Zahara burst on to the music scene a few years ago, and boy did she make an impact. Her hit song Loliwe enjoyed heavy airplay when it was initially released and her debut album of the same name broke many national records in her home country of South Africa, managing to sell more than 350,000 copies. Her music is easy on the ears regardless of whether you may understand the language or not. She sings
Fatoumata Diawara (Mali)
Not only is Fatoumata a talented musician she’s also an actress who has appeared in various movies including the Academy Award-winning Timbuktu. She has released various material over the years with her most widely known project being her 2011 album Fatou. She covers a wide variety of themes such as war, social issues and gender issues. Her song Fasso was the soundtrack to Timbuktu. Her lyrics are in the Bambara language which is spoken in Mali.
Johnny Clegg (South Africa)
This is probably the oldest musician on this list. Johnny Clegg had his heyday back in the 1970s and 1980s. He released a crap load of music as a solo artist and with his two bands Juluka and Savuka. Being a white man making music which incorporated a lot of black elements, he played a considerable role in fighting against the oppressive system of apartheid, which plagued South Africa for many years, from a musical front. My personal favorite album of his is Scatterlings which featured one of his most popular songs Scatterlings of Africa.
Emmanuel Jal (South Sudan)
Emmanuel Jal gained recognition for his album Warchild which was accompanied by a feature documentary of the same title. Both the album and film cover the topic of child soldiers, a situation that Emmanuel found himself in when he was a young boy due to the civil war in his homeland. Emmanuel’s lyrics deal mainly with war, strife, social issue and politics. His sound is raw and is mostly half way between spoken word poetry and rap. A similar, more prominent artist is K’naan but the two are very distinct despite bearing similarities.
Lawi (Malawi)
Lawi is another Malawian artist who has evolved over the years. He started out dabbling in hip hop and house music and finally settled on Afro jazz. He has made a huge impact in his home country and has performed in various parts of the world. His lyrics are in English and Chichewa and deal with mostly social issues and religious themes. You will certainly enjoy this artist’s music.
