Dailly assignment : Pop Music in Africa

Topic : Pop Music in Africa

Young musicians in Africa today create new kind of pop music. The tunes and the rhythms of their music combine Africa traditions with various forms of music popular such as hip-hop, rap, rock, jazz, or reggae, and their own rhythm like makossa, coupe decale', assiko, dombolo and so on. As result' that music may sound familiar to listeners anywhere in the world, but at the same time is distinctly Africa. It also differs in another way: they recognize many of its sounds as special because of their originality and also because they deal with important social or political issues those days. A famous musician who wrote serious sounds focusing on the bad aspect that politicians transform his county is Lapiro de Mbanga. He spent his entire life criticizing through his music the catastrophic conditions on which Cameroonians today live. Both opposition politicians and people ruling the countries in order to protect their interests made the economical situation collapsed. He always invites them to stop their stupidity and think about other people's life instead of just focusing their personal lives. Another prominent musician is Mwaijaga from Tanzania. Her own experiences have helped her understand the suffering of many African women. At the age of fifteen, she lost her home, but had a lucky life than the other homeless people. She could make a living by writing and singing songs in the street. At the age of eighteen, she became a musical star. Her songs writing in rap or hip-hop style about the problems that she sees in Tanzania, especially AIDS and the lack of rights for women.


Written by David Lateu