551 articles
Asnaketch Worku
Asnaketch Worku (አስናቀች ወርቁ) was an Ethiopian actress, dancer, singer, and self-taught krar player who rose to fame in 1950s Addis Ababa as a stage actress.
Aubrey Qwana
Aubrey Qwana is a platinum-selling South African afro-pop and afro-soul singer, rapper, and songwriter from Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, who broke through with "Ngaqonywa" and is best known for the 2020 hit "Molo".
Aurlus Mabélé
Aurlus Mabélé (1953–2020), born Aurélien Miatsonama in Brazzaville, was a Congolese singer and bandleader called the king of soukous who co-founded Loketo in Paris in 1986.
Awilo Longomba
Awilo Longomba is a Congolese singer and former drummer born in 1962 in Kinshasa, whose 1998 hit album Coupé Bibamba made him a pan-African star.
AY (musician)
AY, also written A.Y. and known as Ay Masta, is the stage name of Ambwene Allen Yessayah, a Tanzanian bongo flava rapper-singer born in 1982 in Mtwara.
Azawi
Azawi, real name Priscilla Zawedde, is a Ugandan Afrobeat singer-songwriter from Kampala, signed to Swangz Avenue, whose albums include African Music (2021) and Sankofa (2023).
B. Leza
B. Leza, pen name of Francisco Xavier da Cruz (1905–1958), was a Cape Verdean composer from Mindelo who revolutionized the morna and wrote songs for Cesária Évora.
B2C
B2C, also known as Born 2 Conquer, is a Ugandan vocal harmony trio of Mr Lee, Bobby Lash, and Delivad Julio, known for Gutujja and Munda Awo.
Ba Cissoko
Ba Cissoko is a Guinean band formed around 1999 by kora player Ba Cissoko, the Kouyaté brothers, and Ibrahima Bah, fusing the electrified kora with rock, reggae, funk, and jazz.
Bacardi (music genre)
Bacardi, also known as sgubhu saPitori, is a South African dance music genre from Pretoria townships, defined by hard log drums and snares, and fused with amapiano from 2021.
Bachir Attar
Bachir Attar is a Moroccan musician and bandleader who has led the Master Musicians of Jajouka since 1982, collaborating with the Rolling Stones and Ornette Coleman.
Bahati
Bahati, born Kevin Mbuvi Kioko in 1994, is a Kenyan singer who rose to fame as a gospel artist in Nairobi before crossing to secular Afro-pop.
Baía das Gatas Festival
The Baía das Gatas Festival, also known as Festival de Música da Baía das Gatas, is Cape Verde's largest music festival, held since 1984 on São Vicente.
Balafon
The balafon is a gourd-resonated wooden xylophone of the Mande peoples of West Africa, played with rubber-tipped mallets and central to the traditional music of Mali and Guinea.
Banku music
Banku music is a genre term coined by Nigerian singer Mr Eazi for his signature sound, a fusion of Ghanaian highlife grooves and bounces with Nigerian chord progressions, plus R&B, hip-hop, and pop.
Barnaba Classic
Barnaba Classic is the stage name of Elias Barnabas Inyasi, a Tanzanian bongo flava singer and producer known for romantic Swahili songwriting and the award-winning album Love Sounds Different.
Barthélémy Attisso
Barthélémy Attisso (1945–2021) was a Togolese guitarist and lawyer who co-founded Senegal's Orchestra Baobab in 1970, blending Cuban son with jazz guitar, and died in Lomé in 2021.
Basketmouth
Basketmouth, born Bright Okpocha, is a Nigerian comedian and actor who became one of Nigeria's foremost stand-up comedians and later released the albums Yabasi, Horoscopes, and Uburu.
Bassekou Kouyaté
Bassekou Kouyaté, born 1966 in the Ségou region of Mali, is a ngoni player and bandleader who leads the amplified ngoni quartet Ngoni Ba.
Batida
Batida, Portuguese for "beat", is a fast, percussion-driven electronic club style from Lisbon's Afro-diasporic neighborhoods, and also the artist project of Angolan-born Lisbon producer Pedro Coquenão.
Bau
Bau, born Rufino Almeida in 1962 in Mindelo, Cape Verde, is a morna multi-instrumentalist who played cavaquinho in Cesária Évora's orchestra and led it from 1996 to 1999.
Becca
Becca, born Rebecca Acheampong, is a Ghanaian Afropop singer and actress from Kumasi who broke through in 2007 with "You Lied To Me" and returned in 2024 after a hiatus.
Bella Bellow
Bella Bellow (Georgette Nafiatou Adjoavi Bellow) was a Togolese singer-songwriter, born in Tsévié in 1945, who became her country's defining female voice before dying in a road accident in 1973.
Bella Shmurda
Bella Shmurda (Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi) is a Nigerian street-pop singer-songwriter from Ikorodu, Lagos, known for "Vision 2020" and "Cash App" and founder of the label Dangbana Republik.
BellaNaija
BellaNaija is a Nigerian lifestyle and entertainment media platform founded in 2006 by Uche Pedro and based in Lagos, known for documenting African weddings, fashion, and celebrity culture.
Benny Afroe
Benny Afroe, born Benny Riba, is a South African AfroPop singer and songwriter from Limpopo, known for the single "Hello Baby!" and his 2021 debut EP, Yours Truly, on Vth Season.
Bensoul
Bensoul, born Benson Mutua Muia in Embu County, Kenya, is a Kenyan singer-songwriter best known for the hit song 'Nairobi' and as Sol Generation's first signed artist.
Best New International Act
Best New International Act, also run as Viewer's Choice: Best New International Act, is a fan-voted BET Awards category for emerging international artists, first presented in 2018 to Sjava.
Biri Marung
"Biri Marung" is a 2024 amapiano single by South African producers Mr Pilato, Ego Slimflow, and Tebogo G Mashego, featuring Sje Konka, Focalistic, and DJ Maphorisa.
Bisa Kdei
Bisa Kdei, born Ronald Kwaku Dei Appiah in 1986, is a Ghanaian highlife singer-songwriter and producer who leads his own label, Black Legendary Music, and modernized the genre.