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Music of Africa

In the last 10 years I have developed a keen interest in African music. Before, we had limited exposure to broader sounds of the African continent. My early recollections are those of Nigeria's legendary Fela Kuti with his iconic Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, a magical AfroBeat incantation that goes on for more than 30 minutes. South African radio later dabbled with music of Burundian Kadja Nin and Benin's Angélique Kidjo. There was a limited airplay for Cameroon's Manu Dibango. In actual fact SA radio did us a very big disservice by not exposing DRC's Franco Luambo Makiadi, simply called Franco. Franco was very popular in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa. In Mobutu sese Seko's DRC Franco was so revered, so much so that when he died in 1989 Mobutu declared 3 days of national mourning, in which only the music of Franco will be heard on radio. It is said that during this time, not a single song was repeated on the national radio. 

.....draft to be continued...

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