I think we have really fantastic pop music coming out of Africa these days.
I love that this music is crossing cultural barriers and that Zambians are listening to Ugandan music and Ugandans are listening to Naija music and Nigerians are playing Zambian music as their ringtones!
and one more for good measure:
Yori Yori is my jam!!
The industry in Uganda has grown so fast, as well… a few years ago u had to pick from Bebe Cool and Chameleone (shudder). Now look! Is it the same in Zambia?
Also, a few years ago u were “local” if u appreciated this music, now u’d have to be deaf not to love it 🙂
There’s a really cool Kenyan band called Just A Band putting out crazy electro-pop in sheng and luo. Sick 😀 will link a download just now.
😀
When I was in school in Zambia we had very few artists to choose from, it seemed for a while there that there was big silence the music of our parent’s generation and a lot of the music being produced was just derivative bushwa that was just a poor imitation of western music.
I am really glad to see space opening up for more and more artists, and even more excited to see Ugandan music being appreciated in Zambia and vice versa. . One of mates from school now has an entertainment label, i’ll have to write something up about it. We have to support our own!
The link, as promised:
http://justaband.bandcamp.com/track/ha-he 🙂
btw Char, I am geeking out over just a band. Can’t believe i’ve been sleeping on them all this time