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.
As a cosmopolitan province, Quebec is a home to varied genres of music, ranging from folk to hip hop. Music has played an important role in Quebecer culture. In the 1920s and '30s, singer/songwriter Madam Bolduc performed comedic songs in a folk style with Irish influences. Quebec's most popular artists of the last century include Félix Leclerc (1950s), Gilles Vigneault (1960s–present), Kate and Anna McGarrigle (1970s–present) and Céline Dion (1980s–present).
Jean Leclerc is a Québécois singer-songwriter and author from Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada. He is popularly known as Jean Leloup, a stage name he kept using until 2006, when he temporarily changed his name to Jean Leclerc, only to resurrect his wolf character in August 2008. He is known for his colourful personality and unique musical style in the francophone rock community.
Kashtin were a Canadian folk rock duo in the 1980s and 1990s, one of the most commercially successful and famous musical groups in First Nations history.
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.
Lhasa de Sela, also known by the mononym Lhasa, was an American-Canadian singer-songwriter who was raised in Mexico and the United States and divided her adult life between Canada and France. Her first album, La Llorona, went Platinum in Canada and brought Lhasa a Félix Award and a Juno Award.
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.
Ariane Moffatt is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Known for working across multiple musical genres, Moffatt's music combines elements of electronica, jazz, folk, and pop. A francophone, she is bilingual and has recorded tracks in both French and English. Her 2002 debut album Aquanaute went platinum in Quebec, earning 11 nominations at the 2003 ADISQ Awards and winning three Félix awards. She is known in Quebec for two well-received singles from Aquanaute: "La barricade" and "Dans un océan".
The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt to bring to light artists who have not had major media coverage. It is therefore open to individuals or groups who have not yet had a gold album, with the exception of the nominated album. Its basic purpose is to help newer artists who are not very popular to gain publicity. All albums produced in France in the past year are admissible, without restriction on the nationality or language of expression of the artist. The winner is decided by a jury, headed by a musician, which contains representatives from the press, radio, television and record stores.
Stéphanie Lapointe is a Quebec singer, song writer, television and movie actress and humanitarian activist. She is best known as the winner of the second season of Star Académie.
Ahmed Soultan is a Moroccan singer artist, considered one of the leaders of the "Nayda".
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.
Paul Cargnello is a Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and poet from Montreal. Although anglophone, he has had his greatest success as a writer and singer of French language songs.
Stanley Rimsky Salgado, known by his stage name Imposs, is a Haitian-Canadian rapper, musician, singer and songwriter based in Quebec. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion, one of the well-known hip hop bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with Wyclef Jean during Muzion days and also as a solo artist. He is well known for dubbing the phrase "Real City" for Montreal. He is signed to Sony.
Muzion were a Canadian rap group formed in 1996. The group is made up of rap artists of Haitian origin who lived in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal, including Dramatik, Imposs and his sister J-Kyll. Imposs went on to a solo career, releasing his debut solo album in 2007, Mon Poing D'Vue.
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.
Michel Lemieux is a Canadian multimedia artist from Quebec, whose career has incorporated work in theatrical design, installation art, film, video, dance and music. First coming to prominence in the early 1980s as a performance artist whose work explored the integration of new media technologies into experimental pop music in a manner similar to Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson, more recently he has concentrated primarily on creating, designing, directing and producing multimedia theatrical presentations for events, theatrical companies and other artists.
Richard Abel is a Canadian instrumental musician and pianist. He is one of the best selling Canadian instrumental artists of all time. He has been nominated for a Juno award three times.
