Cape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. Funaná, Coladeira, Batuque and Cabo love are other musical forms.
The music of Angola has been shaped both by wider musical trends and by the political history of the country. while Angolan music has also influenced the music of the other Lusophone countries and Latin American countries. In turn, the music of Angola was instrumental in creating and reinforcing "angolanidade", the Angolan national identity. The capital and largest city of Angola — Luanda — is home to a diverse group of styles including kazukuta, semba, kizomba and kuduro. Just off the coast of Luanda is Ilha do Cabo, home to an accordion and harmonica-based style of music called rebita.
São Tomé and Príncipe is an island country off the coast of Africa. Culturally, the people are African but have been highly influenced by the Portuguese rulers of the islands.
The morna is a music and dance genre from Cape Verde.
African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with Western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa, zouk, and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from Africa, taken to the Americas by enslaved Africans. These rhythms and sounds have subsequently been adapted by newer genres like rock, and rhythm and blues. Likewise, African popular music has adopted elements, particularly the musical instruments and recording studio techniques of the Western music industry. The term does not refer to a specific style or sound but is used as a general term for African popular music.
Compas, also known as compas direct in French, konpa dirèk in Haitian Creole, or simply konpa but most commonly as Kompa is a modern méringue dance music genre of Haiti. The genre was popularized by Nemours Jean-Baptiste following the creation of Ensemble Aux Callebasses in 1955, which became Ensemble Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1957. The frequent tours of the many Haitian bands have cemented the style in all the Caribbean. Therefore, compas is the main music of several countries such as Dominica and the French Antilles. Whether it is called zouk, where French Antilles artists of Martinique and Guadeloupe have taken it, or konpa in places where Haitian artists have toured, this méringue style is influential in part of the Caribbean, Portugal, Cape Verde, France, part of Canada, South and North America.
Semba is a traditional type of music and dance from Angola. Semba has its roots in Massemba and means "a touch of belly buttons" - one of the most recognizable and entertaining movements in semba.
Kuduro is a type of music and dance from Angola. It is characterized as uptempo, energetic, and danceable. Kuduro was developed in Luanda, Angola, in the late 1980s. Producers sampled traditional carnival music like soca and zouk béton from the Caribbean to Angola, techno and accordion playing from Europe and laid this around a fast four-to-the-floor beat.
The coladeira is a music genre from the Cape Verde islands in the central Atlantic Ocean.
Ricardo Lemvo is a Congolese singer of Angolan descent who lives in Los Angeles, California. His music is a blend of African soukous, kizomba, samba and Cuban salsa.
Gil Semedo Moreira, better known by his stage name Gil Semedo, is a Cape Verdean recording artist, songwriter, businessman, and record producer. He rose to prominence in 1991 following the release of "Menina", the first single from his debut album bearing the same name. Gil is one of the most powerful celebrities in Kriolo Portuguese, having sold over a million records and creating his own music genre ‘Cabo Swing’.
Flavel & Neto are a singing duo based in France specializing in Latin-based dance music, but greatly influenced by Angolan kizomba music. They are signed to Five Music label and are mostly famous with their singles "Eu quero tchu, eu quero tcha" and "Pedida perfeita (Tararatata)", the latter featuring Anna Torres.
Elizio, aka Mister ODC is a singer-songwriter born in Angola in 1979, of Cape Verdean origin. Revealed with the title 10 fois, 100 fois featuring Perle Lama in 2003, Elizio quickly meets his first big solo success with Melodia which leads him to the top of the zouk scene. The artist then connects the tubes and expands his musical universe with more than 70 titles, ranging from general dancefloor with sounds like Bad Man on Kizomba with Angel or Make love on tempo in particular, through the kuduro as Sabi Di Mas.
Rebita is a traditional music and dance from Angola. It is a genre of music and dance in which a circle of couples, leaded by a coordinator in the middle, dance in a traditional movement called Massemba.
Francisco Xavier da Cruz, also known as B. Leza or Beleza was a Cape Verdean writer, composer and singer of morna music..
Gilyto Semedo, aka Mr. Entertainer is a Cape Verdean Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, TV & Music Producer, Cultural Activist, Mentor Of Cabo Verde Music Awards-CVMA and PALOP Music Awards - PALOPMA.
Urban Kiz is a couple dance derived from Kizomba. The origin is the result of exportation of Kizomba abroad, as well the Angolan community in diaspora introduction of the Kizomba into different countries mainly Portugal, France, UK, the Netherlands and Spain between 1980 and 2003. It was first popularized in social media sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. Dancer Moun started dancing since 2008, but was not known yet as reference as Urban Kiz. Curtis Seldon started in 2011 and Dancer Enah Lebon started in 2012. However, Urban Kiz was created in Paris somewhere during 2013. by Curtis Seldon and Cherazad Benyoucef who were the first to change the way to dance. The dance still went under various names, such as Kizomba 2.0, French Style Kizomba, New Style Kizomba, because no consensus was reached on a final name. The dance style evolved influenced by Ghetto-Zouk Tarraxa and remixes with R&B, Rap, Dance and Hip Hop. The newly created dance was still sold as Kizomba although it changed from Kizomba completely. After fights in 2015 the new name Urban Kiz was created and publicly announced. Though there is some controversy around the origins of the style, it's widely accepted that the brand Urban Kiz was pioneered in Paris by famous dancers Curtis Seldon, Enah Lebon and Moun.
Celma Ribas is a singer, songwriter and businesswoman from Angola.
Eduardo Paím is an Angolan singer who is considered to be one of the creators of the Kizomba genre, having described himself as the precursor to the genre. First popular in Angola during the 1980s, and later in the 1980s and 1990s in Portugal, he has released several albums both solo and with his band SOS.
Zukuma is a musical genre that mixes various rhythms and African dances, mainly influenced by Kuduro from Angola and Kwassa from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
