Our Editor-in-Chief, Femi Awoniyi, was at the live concert of the Afro-Brazilian legend Mateus Aleluia last week and he narrates what he describes as an unforgettable experience Mateus Aleluia gave a live concert during the week in Berlin. Accompanied by a percussionist, the Afro-Brazilian musician appeared with his daughter Fabiana on piano. It was such a lean lineup, but the …
Read More »David Alaba’s sister expresses interest in Ghanaian musician
Austrian-Nigerian singer, songwriter, and recording artist Rose May Alaba has expressed her interest to collaborate with the Ghanaian recording artist King Promise. During an interview with Hitz 103.9 FM in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday she said: “I love King Promise. He has a very sweet voice. I love his voice. I am looking forward to that. I am still looking …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s most celebrated band drops new album
Five years after the release of ‘Luyando’, Zimbabwe’s most celebrated musical export have returned with their long-awaited follow-up album ‘Tusona: Tracings in the Sand’, released on 7 July by Munich-based Outhere records. Like anywhere in the world Africa’s musical output has become more and more producer based. Mokoomba, however, are the living proof that Africa’s great guitar band heritage is …
Read More »David Alaba’s sister to showcase best of Afrobeats to the world with new release
Vienna-born artist Rose May Alaba is set to make waves in the African music scene with her latest single set to drop on 28 April. The talented singer, who is the younger sister of football sensation David Alaba, grew up in Austria, surrounded by different genres of music, but it was her Nigerian roots that eventually caught her attention. She …
Read More »Angélique Kidjo wins world’s ‘most prestigious music prize’
Multiple award-winner Angélique Kidjo has added another title to her laurels. The African singer won the 2023 Polar Music Prize, often called the Nobel Prize of Music, on Tuesday. She was honoured with the award alongside Britain’s Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, and Estonian composer Arvo Part. The Polar Music Prize is an annual Swedish international award founded in …
Read More »BANTU warns Nigerians over elections in new album
The accompanying single cover, by award-winning Ghanaian satirical artist Bright Tetteh Ackwerh–depicting the main presidential candidates (of the recently concluded presidential elections) wining and dining together, while the struggling masses gather around them begging for alms BANTU, a band based in Lagos, Nigeria, has dropped a new music “Wayo And Division” to warn citizens of Africa’s most populous country against …
Read More »Remembering Stephen Osita Osadebe, 15 years on
Our contributing editor, Frank Stenner, pays tribute to one of Nigeria’s musical giants, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, fifteen years after his demise —– “In my life and my creations, I have tried to follow my destiny which is my music. That is my journey. I live with the gift of God.” [from Osita Osadebe: “Ana Masi Ife Uwa” (“Sound Time” 2001)] Chief …
Read More »World’s biggest Afrobeats festival moves to Ghana in December
If you are looking for an additional reason to spend the Christmas-New Year season in Ghana, here is one: Accra will host the biggest names and future stars in Afrobeats on 29-30 December. Afro Nation, which dubs itself as the world’s biggest Afrobeats festival, will move its giant stages from Portugal to the Black Star Square in Accra, where Ghana’s …
Read More »Experiencing Angélique Kidjo live in Dortmund
Our contributing editor, Tina Adomako, narrates her impressions of a prestigious concert featuring multiple award-winner Angélique Kidjo when she performed, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra, to a sold-out house in the western German city of Dortmund on Wednesday — I rush through the busy Brückstraße, where Dortmund shows itself in all its diversity, and arrive just in time at …
Read More »Virgin Music launches African label
Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today (7 June) announced the launch of Virgin Music Label & Artist Services in Africa, a new dedicated distribution service for independent African artists and labels across the continent. The label services division launches with more than 15000 titles, 50 label partners and 100+ artists from more than 25 African …
Read More »Stonebwoy, Nkulee Dube, others to rock German town of Emmendingen
The German town of Emmendingen will host the 20th anniversary of the African Music Festival from 4 to 7 August. And the organisers are leaving no stone unturned to make the anniversary a special, memorable one. Among the many artists billed to perform in Emmendingen is Livingstone Etse Satekla, better known by his stage name Stonebwoy. The multiple-awarded Ghanaian Afropop, …
Read More »Ukraine: African groups hold peace concert in Munich
As the war in Ukraine rages on, many Africans and People of Colour fleeing the country are still stuck at its borders with its neighbours while those lucky to make it to Western Europe are facing different kinds of challenges. To draw attention to the travails of the non-Ukrainian victims of the war in Ukraine, a coalition of African groups …
Read More »Ghanaian superstar Highlife band tours Germany
The young Highlife supergroup Santrofi from Accra will kick off its European tour in Munich on 25 May. The ‘Deep into Highlife’ tour 2022, which will take band throughout Europe with over 30 dates, builds on its celebrated first Europe tour in 2019. “After months of performing and collaborating with Highlife legends such as AB Crentsil or AK Yeboah, jamming …
Read More »Rotimi comes to Germany for exclusive show!
With co-signings from T-Pain, 50 Cent, JAY-Z, Jamie Foxx and TI, singer-songwriter Rotimi ushers in a new era of game changers. The American actor, singer and model will perform in Berlin on 20 May, part of his ongoing world tour to promote his debut album “All or Nothing”. While he has so far been best known for his acting roles, …
Read More »Wizkid, Burna Boy, other superstars to perform at world’s biggest Afrobeats festival
The music industry is booming across the African continent and it is attracting major international players. In recent years, the world's three largest record labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music Group have all entered the African market.
Read More »New international label for African Jazz launches
The legendary Jazz label Blue Note Records and Universal Music Group Africa have announced the creation of Blue Note Africa (www.BlueNote.com), an exciting new imprint dedicated to signing Jazz artists from across the African continent, bringing them to a global audience, and promoting a cultural exchange of ideas that transcends borders. Blue Note Africa will launch this Spring with the …
Read More »Video: Asamor collaborates with Stanley Enow on “Magic”
Asamor is an incredibly versatile Cameroonian artist based in Germany. He hails from Lebialem, South West region of Cameroon. With a well-lettered background at the University of Bonn where he spent time at the department of music, he has proven his ingenuity by infusing Makossa and Bangwa rhythms to produce a unique genre and eargasmic “Abanda Kossa”. Asamor’s music career …
Read More »Record entries for All Africa Music Awards 2021
The African Union Commission and The International Committee of All Africa Music Awards, (Afrima), have received a staggering number of 8,880 entries for the Afrima 2021 Awards. Now in its eighth year, Afrima, the ultimate recognition of African music globally honours African artists, music producers, songwriters, video directors, DJs, choreographers/dancers, and movie/film producers living on the continent or in diaspora …
Read More »Nigerian singing legend dies
Nigerian singing legend Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi, more famously known as Sound Sultan, has died. The rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and recording artist, who is regarded as one of the pacesetters of modern hip hop music in Nigeria, died on Sunday, 11 July in the US of throat cancer. He was 44. Tributes continue to be paid to the artist. …
Read More »Entries open for All African Music Awards 2021
The international committee of the All African Music Awards (Afrima) has announced the 2021 event calendar at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, marking the opening of Afrima 2021. This year’s calendar features a lineup of undertakings and events that would take place between 20 June and 21 November 2021. Speaking on behalf of the African Union, the …
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