Whether you consider music to be the soundtrack of your life or the universal language of mankind, there’s no doubt that it forms an indelible part of our humanity. Nelson Mandela once said that ‘The curious beauty about African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad story.’ With the intuitive HUAWEI Music app, it’s easy to browse through Africa’s most popular music genres of the season. We’ll take you on a brief journey through four genres and profile some of the hottest artists.
Kwaito Starting off in South Africa, Kwaito emerged in the 90s as a variant of house music but featuring African sounds and samples. Think of it as a type of pop music slowed down and layered with African percussion and melodies. On HUAWEI Music, you’ll find DJ Sbu, DJ Cleo and TKZee as the most popular proponents of this genre. So, have a browse and stream some great South African songs to instantly uplift your mood.
Sungura Moving to neighbouring Zimbabwe, we find that Sungura is the most popular type of music. It emerged in 1953 at a time when the regional identity of the country was being formed. Usually composed of a lead guitar, a few rhythm guitars, bass and a drum section, this is foot-tappingly good music designed to get you up and at ‘em! Leonard Dembo is regarded as the master of Sungura and he has a selection of rhythmical songs available on HUAWEI Music. Others to check out include Riziki, The Sungura Boys and Nipangishe.
Sakara Heading up north to Nigeria, we find Sakara. This popular music is found mostly in the form of praise songs and uses only traditional Yoruba instruments such as the solemn sounding goje violin and the small round sakara drum. It really is an explosion of the senses when listening to vocal and percussion performances. Yusuf Olatunji, Salami Balogun and Khames Nagy are just some of the Sakara artists available for streaming on HUAWEI Music.
Azonto Our fourth genre is that of Azonto, a dance music from Ghana which originated amongst the Ga people. It offers the audience hip-shaking beats and jiving until the sun comes up again! While opinions may vary, Ghanaian rapper, Sarkodie is often considered to be the main originator of Azonto however you can also browse through HUAWEI Music and listen to Fuse ODG, Nyla, and Guru NKZ to get a deeper feel for what this fun musical offering is all about.
This is just a taste of the incredible selection of music available on the HUAWEI Music app. Huawei Music comes pre-installed on all Huawei smartphones, so check out the HUAWEI Music app today and begin your own musical discovery of the best that Africa has to offer?