The music of Ivory Coast includes music genres of many ethnic communities, often characterised by vocal polyphony especially among the Baoulé, talking drums especially among the Nzema people and by the characteristic polyrhythms found in rhythm in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds, Basil Gabbidon, and Ronald McQueen (bass); along with Basil's brother Colin briefly on drums and Mykaell Riley. Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
Though reggae music first developed in Jamaica, it has strong rhythmic and thematic associations with Africa and has been called "the quintessential African/third world/black musical form". There are many African reggae musicians with a wide fan base both on the continent and abroad. Well-known African reggae artists are Alpha Blondy, Pax Nindi aka Harare Dread, Majek Fashek, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Colbert Mukwevho,Thomani Tshikororo, Ismael Isaac, Radical Dread, Jambo, Soul Raiders, Lucky Dube, and Serges Kassy.
Björn Svante Afzelius was a Swedish singer-songwriter and guitar player. He was an outspoken socialist, known for his support for Olof Palme. His songs are about love, politics and joys and sadness in life.
Hélène Lee is a French journalist who specialises in Jamaican and West African music.
Sinsemilia, also known as Sinsé, is a French reggae band that was formed in Grenoble, Isère in 1990. The name of the group is very similar to sinsemilla, referring to cannabis which is unfertilised and hence seedless. The band first used this name in concert at the Fête de la Musique in 1991, referring to the reggae album Sinsemilia by Black Uhuru. This was the first of more than a thousand concerts, and in the following fifteen years more than one million albums have been sold.
Patrice Babatunde Bart-Williams, better known as Patrice, is a German reggae singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in Germany to a Sierra Leonean father and a German mother, Patrice grew up listening to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Champion Jack Dupree, Max Romeo, Buju Banton, dancehall and hip hop music, writing his own songs from the age of 12.
Clive Hunt is a Jamaican reggae multi-instrumentist, arranger, composer and producer.
Doumbia Moussa Fakoly, better known by his stage name Tiken Jah Fakoly, is an Ivorian reggae singer and songwriter.
Tuff Gong is the brand name associated with a number of businesses started by Bob Marley and the Marley family. 'Tuff Gong' comes from Marley's nickname, which was in turn an echo of that given to founder of the Rastafari movement, Leonard "The Gong" Howell.
Tyrone Downie was a Jamaican keyboardist and pianist best known for his involvement as a member of Bob Marley and The Wailers.
African Holocaust is a reggae album released by Steel Pulse in July 2004. It is Steel Pulse's eleventh album, their most recent being Mass Manipulation, released in 2019. The album features an ample guest list headlined by fellow reggae acts Damian "Junior Gong" Marley and Capleton. In this album Steel Pulse, with David Hinds’ signature voice leading the way, ventures further away from the dancehall persuasions apparent in their late-1980s and early-'90s work.
Dimanche à Bamako is the fourth album by Malian duo Amadou & Mariam featuring, and produced by, French singer Manu Chao. It was released on the Nonesuch Records label on 2 August 2005.
Ahmed Soultan is a Moroccan singer artist, considered one of the leaders of the "Nayda".
Jonathan Hugh Quarmby, is an English record producer and songwriter and son of English architect Arthur Quarmby.
Jean Bélony Murat is a Haitian composer and guitarist. The songs in his first album Lakou trankil explain and reflect the problems Haitians face. BélO is popular in Europe and Africa where he won the Discovery RFI Prime in April 2006. This award had already helped other artists like Tiken Jah Fakoly and Rokia Traoré to reveal their talent in the music industry. BélO's musical approach is influenced by other Caribbean styles but mostly by reggae and jazz.
Collectif Paris Africa is a French group and French speaking international artists united by UNICEF. Its purpose is to collect money for nutrition and food for the poor countries in Horn of Africa. The group released a single called "Des ricochets", referring to the poor availability of fresh water in the area) which was followed by compilation album Collectif Paris-Africa pour l'Unicef.
Mokobé Traoré, better known by the mononym Mokobé, is a Malian–French rapper and part of the music collective 113 alongside Rim'K and AP and within the greater French musical project and collective Mafia K-1 Fry. He also has his own solo career with two album releases Mon Afrique in 2007 and Africa Forever in 2011.
Wesli is the stage name of Wesley Louissaint, a Haitian Canadian Singer-songwriter, guitarist and a record producer. He is most noted for winning the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2019 for his album Rapadou Kreyol.
Abdoul Jabbar was a Guinean singer-songwriter. He sang in French, Susu, Fula, and Manding.
