African reggae
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History
The popularity of Reggae in Africa started with the spread of music by Jamaican artists like Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff in the late 1960s and 1970s. While their music was popular around the world, it was particularly well-received in Africa.[1] One of the first hit songs by an African artist with distinct reggae qualities was "Fire In Soweto" by Sonny Okosun in 1978.[1] [3]
More groups followed suit, and reggae was one of the most popular genres of music in the late 1970s in Africa. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, John Nunley said that reggae was all over the urban soundscape.[1]
In 1980, world-famous Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley performed in Harare, Zimbabwe, and that concert is often credited as marking the beginning of reggae in Africa.[4][2]
Reggae in Ivory Coast
Reggae is perhaps most popular in the
Alpha Blondy
In the early 1980s Ivorian Artist Alpha Blondy emerged as a major African reggae recording artist with the album Jah Glory.[7] The top single from that album was the song "Brigadier Sabari", recounting an incident where the singer was nearly beaten to death by police in Abidjan. It was the first time a West African artist had openly criticized police brutality in popular music.[7] Alpha Blondy has continued to release popular albums through the 2020s that received widespread international popularity and he has been called "The Bob Marley of Africa".[7]
Tiken Jah Fakoly
Born to a family of traditional African oral historians known as
Reggae in South Africa
During the 1970s and 1980s, Jamaican and other reggae artists released songs with politically pointed lyrics about the political situation in South Africa like Peter Tosh's "Apartheid", Bunny Wailer's "Botha The Mosquito".[9] Jimmy Cliff played at Orlando Stadium in Soweto in 1980, and many South Africans were inspired by Bob Marley's performance in Zimbabwe, and Peter Tosh's 1983 visit to Swaziland.[10] Major South African artists included Carlos Djedje, Colbert Mukwevho, Lucky Dube, Jambo, Thomani Tshikororo, and the band O'Yaba.[10]
Reggae in Nigeria
Reggae music was popularized in Nigeria by Majek Fashek in the mid-1980s. Radio Nigeria stations began to play a large number of reggae artists.[11]
Nigerian reggae artists such as Daniel Wilson, Jerri Jheto, Daddy Showkey, Ras Kimono, Victor Essiet (from “The Mandators”), Evi Edna Ogholi, and Peterside Ottong became well-known, and subgenres like dancehall, ragga, and galala began to grow in popularity.
References
- ^ a b c d Waters, Alan (1994). "Reggae Music in Africa". Passages. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ a b Whitwam, Wayne. "African Reggae". Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "Fire In Soweto". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
- ISBN 978-1-136-83028-0.
- ^ ISSN 1779-0980.
- ^ Copnall, James (15 October 2007). "Ivory Coast's reggae wars recede". BBC. BBC News. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Brennan, Sandra. "Alpha Blondy". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ Gutierrez, Evan. "Tiken Jah Fakoly". allmusic.com. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ Järvenpää, Tuomas (July 4, 2017). "From the margins, reggae in South Africa continues to struggle for human dignity". The Conversation. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ a b Okapi, DJ (7 January 2016). "Reggae in South Africa". Music in Africa. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: 1980s to the 2000s". Global Voices. 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-07-05.