Afro-Pop

Many of our initial encounters with Afro-pop happen courtesy of famous champions of the genre (e.g. Paul Simon). Here we're kicking off with a collaboration between dance sophisticates A Man Called Adam and South Africa's Brenda Fassie, the "Madonna of the Townships". Use the track as a departure point for further exploration.

You're beginning to distinguish Senegal's Cheikh Lo from Ghana's Obo Addy. But can you tell a kora from a kontingo? Or do you just want to dance? Either way, we got you covered. Kora maestro Foday Musa Suso relocated from Gambia to Chicago in the '70s, and brought with him the wave-like rhythms of tracks such as "Harima."

If the many delights of Afro-pop have left you enchanted, and hungry for these connoisseur's cuts, you may be asking, in the words of Congo's soukous hero Kanda Bongo Man, "Kwassa Kwassa?" (Tr: "What's that? What's that?") Find out more, with the likes Guinean guitarist Alpha Yaya Diallo, who's based out of Vancouver.

Just as rock music grew out of local roots, such as country and blues, so it is with Afro-pop. It's a huge musical umbrella that encompasses the hard-edged, politically driven Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and the laid-back, hypnotic, equatorial grooves of King Sunny Ade. It ranges from Algerian rai in the north to soukous in central Africa to township jive in the south, and a host of other places (musically and geographically) besides. Essential listening for any pop aficionado.