The music of Togo has produced a number of internationally known popular entertainers including Bella Bellow, Akofah Akussah, Afia Mala, Itadi Bonney, Wellborn, King Mensah and Jimi Hope.
The music of Togo has produced a number of internationally known popular entertainers including Bella Bellow, Akofah Akussah, Afia Mala, Itadi Bonney, Wellborn, King Mensah and Jimi Hope.
The Togolese national anthem is Salut à toi, pays de nos aïeux (Land of our forefathers), written by Alex Casimir-Dosseh. From 1979 to 1992 it was replaced by an anthem composed by the party of the Rally of the Togolese People. French is the official and commercial language of Togo.
Togo's southern plain is its most populous area, where the capital, Lomé, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea but, like its neighbours, Ghana and Benin, its territory extends hundreds of kilometres northward, passing through a central hill region into the northern savanna that borders Burkina Faso. Its population of over 6 million people, which is 65% rural and agrarian, is composed of about 21 ethnic groups. Approximately 51% of the population has indigenous beliefs, 29% is Christian, and 20% Muslim. [1]
The two most populous language groups are the Ewe in the south (about 32% of the population) and the Kabye in the north (22% of the population). Gen or Mina is the second major language in the south, closely related to Ewe: most southern peoples use these two languages, which are spoken in commercial sectors throughout Togo. Fon, another related language, as well as Aja, are also spoken in the south: the Ewe had entered Togo from the east, and Akan people from the west, several centuries before Europeans arrived.
Folk songs of fishermen in the south may be accompanied by bells such as the gankogui and frikiwa. Folk songs in Ewe and Kabye, are common, Fon and Yoruba songs also occur. [2] Togolese music includes a great variety of percussion-led dance music. All over Togo drums are used, by Christians and Muslims as well, to celebrate all major events of life and for festivals like the Expesoso or Yeke Yeke festival. [3] In the Aneho district alone drums in use include the agbadja, ageche, aziboloe, kple, amedjeame, akpesse, grekon, blekete and adamdom. [3] There are numerous rhythms in Togo, each area having its own special beat.
In the central hills Tem and the Ghana–Togo Mountain languages are spoken. Dagomba is the second most common language in the north, where other Gur languages such as Mossi and Gourma are also found. The culture of these northern people extends far into Togo's neighbouring states, Ghana and Burkina Faso. The Dagomba people play stringed instruments such as the kologo ( xalam ) and the gonjey ), flute and voice, with poly-rhythms clapped or played on the talking drum, gourd drums or brekete. The tradition of gyil xylophone music is also common, with several players producing intricate cycling rhythms. Other folk instruments include the bow. [2] Music in the northern styles is mostly set to a minor pentatonic scale and melisma plays an important part in melodic and vocal styles, along with a long history of griot praise-singing traditions.
Togolese dances include kamou, soo, tchimou, the southern royal djokoto , the war dances kpehouhuon and atsina , the hunters' dance adewu , the stilt dance tchebe , the miming masseh , as well as regional dances like the coastal sakpate and the kaka . [4]
Internationally known performer King Mensah, a former performer at the Ki-Yi M'Bock Theatre in Abidjan, toured Europe and Japan before opening his own show in French Guiana and then moving to Paris and forming a band called Favaneva. [5] Peter Solo The man of Vodoo Game Music from Togo The idea of integrating these haunting lines, sung in honor of the Divinities, to an energetic 1970s Afro-funk was an obvious extension in Peter's mind of the analogy he found between this voodoo tradition and trance inducers such as Blues, Funk, as well as the Rhythm'n Blues of James Brown, Otis Redding and Wilson Picket.Peter heard this new sound coming through him and named it Vodoo Game.
Bella Bellow is Togo's best-known musician, and is often compared with South Africa's Miriam Makeba. [6] Her career began after representing her country in 1966 at the Dakar Arts Festival. [5] She began a career singing love-oriented ballads in 1969, when she worked with Togolese-French producer Gérard Akueson and soon appeared on French national radio and then the prestigious Olympia Music Hall. [5] She toured across much of the world before dying in a car accident in 1973, just after recording the hit collaboration with Manu Dibango "Sango Jesus Christo". [5] In Bellow's wake came a wave of female singers, including Mabah, Afia Mala, Fifi Rafiatou and Ita Jourias. [5] Other musicians include Jimi Hope. Hope is known for politically incisive lyrics and an innovative rock-based style. [5]
Hip hop is on the rise, and 2003 saw the first Togo hip hop awards ceremony. [6]
The group Toofan , founded in 2005 in the capital city of Lomé, is popular across Africa and Europe. Toofan plays a musical style they call "Ogbragada", a combination of Rap and Urban music. They have toured across Africa, Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. The group popularized a dance called "Gweta" [7] Toofan has been recognized for their philanthropic and charitable initiatives in Togo. [8]
Folk metal scene of Togo, counts one band under the name "Arka'n Asrafokor [9] "
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It is one of the least developed countries and extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital, Lomé, is located. It is a small, tropical country, which covers 57,000 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 8 million, and it has a width of less than 115 km (71 mi) between Ghana and its eastern neighbour Benin.
The history of Togo can be traced to archaeological finds which indicate that ancient local tribes were able to produce pottery and process tin. During the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, the Ewé, the Mina, the Gun, and various other tribes entered the region. Most of them settled in coastal areas. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century, followed by other European powers. Until the 19th century, the coastal region was a major slave trade centre, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast".
The demographics of Togo include ethnicity, population density, age, education level, health, economic status and religious affiliations.
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437 while there were 2,188,376 permanent residents in its metropolitan area as of the 2022 census. Located on the Gulf of Guinea at the southwest corner of the country, with its entire western border along the easternmost edge of Ghana's Volta Region, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center, which includes an oil refinery. It is also the country's chief port, from where it exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and oil palm kernels.
Sylvanus Épiphanio Olympio was a Togolese politician who served as prime minister, and then president, of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963. He came from the important Olympio family, which included his uncle Octaviano Olympio, one of the richest people in Togo in the early 1900s.
Ghana is a country of 33.48 million people and many native groups, such as:
The Kabye, are a people living in the north central mountains and northern plains of Togo. They speak the Kabiye language. The Kabye are primarily known for farming and cultivation of harsh, dry, infertile lands of Togo. They grow cotton, millet and yams.
The Nawdba, sing. Nawda, to whom some refer as Lossos in Togo, are an ethnic and linguistic group of people living in the Doufelgou District (Préfecture) of the Kara Region in Northern Togo, West Africa. The district capital is Niamtougou which is also an important regional market town. The Nawdba live on a plateau in the Togo Mountains between two mountain ranges: the Kabiyé Mountains to the South and the Défalé Chain to the North. They occupy the communities of Niamtougou, Koka, Baga, Ténéga, Siou, Djogrergou, Sioudouga, Kpadeba, Hago, Koukou, and Kounfaga. The Doufelgou District is bordered by the Kozah District to the South, by the Binah District to the East, by the Bassar District to the West, by the Kéran District to the North, and by the international border with Bénin to the Northeast.
The Ewe people are a Gbe-speaking ethnic group. The largest population of Ewe people is in Ghana, and the second largest population is in Togo. They speak the Ewe language which belongs to the Gbe family of languages. They are related to other speakers of Gbe languages such as the Fon, Gen, Phla/Phera, Ogu/Gun, Maxi (Mahi), and the Aja people of Togo and Benin.
Togo's culture reflects the influences of its 37 tribal ethnic groups, the largest and most influential of which are the Ewe, Mina, and Kabye. French is the official language of Togo, but many native African languages are spoken there as well. Despite the influence of Western religion, more than half of the people of Togo follow native animistic practices and beliefs.
In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the use of music is not limited to entertainment: it serves a purpose to the local community and helps in the conduct of daily routines. Traditional African music supplies appropriate music and dance for work and for religious ceremonies of birth, naming, rites of passage, marriage and funerals. The beats and sounds of the drum are used in communication as well as in cultural expression.
Togo has very diverse and rich traditions in music and dance, which is in part reflected by Togo's regional hip hop scene. Hip-hop togo is the style of Old school hip hop of America mixing with the traditional music of Togo.
King Mensah, also known as "The Golden Voice of Togo", is a Togolese singer from West Africa. Though based in Lomé, he regularly records and promotes his albums in Paris, and has embarked on several world tours since 2005. Singing in Mina, Ewe, and French, King Mensah's sound fuses elements of traditional Ewe music, and Kabye dance-drum music, with funk, reggae and West African Afropop. King Mensah's lyrical themes are steeped in religion and hopeful encouragement for the orphaned, oppressed and downtrodden.
Togo is a multilingual country, which according to one count has 44 languages spoken. The official language is French. In 1975, the government designated two indigenous languages - Ewé and Kabiyé - as national languages, meaning that they are promoted in formal education and the media. The two national languages tend to be used regionally with Ewé used in the south from Lomé to Blitta, and Kabiyé from Blitta to Dapaong in the north.
Georgette Adjoavi Bellow, better known as Bella Bellow, was a Togolese singer who created an international career and recorded several albums. She died at the age of 28 in a car accident in Togo.
Anlo Afiadenyigba is a town in the Volta Region of Ghana. The town is located on the eastern part of the Keta Lagoon.
Borborbor is a Ghanaian and Togolese traditional dance performed by the Ewe people from the mid-Volta region of Ghana and Southern Togo including Kpalime and Lomé. The dance is performed especially during the festival of the chiefs and people of communities. This dance is believed to have been originated by Mr. Francis Kudzo Nuatro in the 1950s. It's a cultural and a social recreational dance performed by the Ewe people in the Volta Region of Ghana, an area north of the Anlo Ewe of southeastern Ghana and some Togelese.
Agbadza is an Ewe music and dance that evolved from the times of war into a very popular recreational dance. It came from a very old war dance called Atrikpui and usually performed by the Ewe people of the Volta Region of Ghana, particularly during the Hogbetsotso Festival, a celebration by the Anlo Ewe people. In addition, it is also performed by Togolese and Beninese of Ewe descent. The dance has five movements in performing it, 1. Banyinyi which is a short introductory in prayer to the gods and ancestors, 2. Vutsortsor which is the main dance, 3. Adzo- which is less energetic and only the master is made to drum along with Gankogui and Axatse, 4. Hatsatsa- historical songs are performed along with Gankogui and Atoke, 5. Vutsortsor- finally, another round of the main dance which usually last for a number of hours. Gankogui is an instrument in a form of a bell where a stick is used to play. Atoke is also an iron banana shaped bell and played with a small forged iron rod. The Atoke can be used in place of the Gankogui they are both used for the same purpose.
The 1986 Togolese coup d'état attempt was a coup attempt that occurred in the West African country of Togo on 23 September 1986. The coup attempt consisted of a group of some 70 armed dissidents crossed into capital Lomé from Ghana in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government of President General Gnassingbé Eyadéma.
France–Togo relations are the diplomatic relations between the French Republic and the Togolese Republic. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the United Nations.
