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Celebrating African music culture 🌍
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Recent posts
Bubblegum Pop: A proudly South African 🇿🇦 music genre that emerged in the 1980s, right in the heart of apartheid’s shadow. Born from the rhythmic roots of mbaqanga, marabi, kwela, and blended with vibrant electronic keyboards and synthesizers 🎹, Bubblegum became the sound of resilience and celebration.
At a time when black artists faced restrictions on airplay and public venues, they found creative freedom in Bubblegum, crafting upbeat tunes that spoke to their realities. Take Chicco Twala’s “We Miss You Manelow”—a powerful anthem capturing the hope for Mandela’s release. Or the legendary Yvonne Chaka Chaka, whose hits “Umqombothi” and “Thank You Mr. DJ” didn’t just top charts; they shook up the entire continent! And of course, Brenda Fassie and her band, The Big Dudes, who brought the house down with their iconic “Weekend Special” 🔥.
As the 90s rolled in, Bubblegum made way for Kwaito, laying the foundation for today’s Amapiano 🎶—the genre that’s now echoing through Africa’s streets and sound systems.
We’ve curated a playlist packed with Bubblegum Pop classics just for you!
Comment “Bubblegum” below to get the playlist.
25 Oct 2026
Did you know about these Colombian samples 🇨🇴on these Amapiano songs 🤯
Totó la Momposina’s (@totolamomposinaoficial)
Music is the heartbeat of Colombia. The legendary singer and dancer has spent decades preserving Afro-Indigenous rhythms like cumbia, bullerengue, and mapalé, blending ancestral traditions with unstoppable energy.
Born in Talaigua Nuevo, her career soared globally after collaborating with Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records, making her a symbol of resistance and joy. Her voice—raw, spiritual, and electrifying—has been sampled across genres, from electronic to hip-hop.
Her tracks “Curura” and “El Pescador” were famously sampled by Michel Cleis in 2009, leading to a multitude of other remixes and further samples!
10 Jun 2025
@femiakuti talking about the future of Afrobeat in a 1989 interview.
Was he right?
09 Nov 2026
Celebrating Youssou N’Dour! 🇸🇳 — a name that carries the rhythm of Senegal and the pulse of a continent. More than a voice, he’s a force. An artist who turned local sound into global language, and in doing so, made the world listen.
Rooted in mbalax yet endlessly inventive, Youssou blended tradition with modernity—fusing sabar drums with soul, jazz, and pop to create something unmistakably his own. His music isn’t just heard; it’s felt. A soundtrack of identity, resilience, and pride.
From electrifying collaborations with international legends to winning a Grammy, Youssou didn’t just represent Africa—he redefined what it means to lead with authenticity on a world stage.
Whether you’re discovering his work for the first time or diving back into a timeless discography, press play and let the journey begin.
Playlist link in bio.
What is your Favourite Youssou N’Dour track?
08 Nov 2026
Why are these original records so pricy on @discogs?
Were they pressed in small quantities? Did they grow in value due to the popularity of the records?
For years, these records were overlooked outside their home countries. Much later, DJs, collectors, and reissue labels like rediscovered them, driving demand especially from Europe, Japan, and North America, where rarity, history, and cultural importance matter deeply.
Discogs makes these records available by connecting buyers and sellers while archiving relevant information about the records and displaying the demand for them.
However, this poses some questions: are these records cultural artifacts or merely commodities? Who benefits from these transactions?
How much would you spend on a record?
06 Nov 2026
A spectacular evening celebrating ‘Brilliant: The Art of Beaded Footwear Around the World’, an exhibition on display until April 2028 at @batashoemuseum
Sample Chief had the pleasure of curating a stunning performance by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist @askaboutsewa and talking drummer, Durotimi.
‘Brilliant’ traces the global history of beadwork through exceptional examples of beaded footwear from Africa, Europe, South Asia, Turtle Island (North America), and Western Asia.
Curated by @elizabethsemmelhack Director and Senior Curator, Bata Shoe Museum, @nishib21, Curator and Manager of Exhibitions, Bata Shoe Museum; and Justine Woods, Assistant Professor, Parsons School of Design, The New School
Photos by @ryanemberley and @matt_tibbo_photography
04 Nov 2026
In the Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrinya regions of northern and central Ethiopia 🇪🇹 and Eritrea 🇪🇷 a six-stringed bowl-shaped instrument called the Krar creates the soundscape for heart-wrenching nostalgia.
The krar (or kirar) is made of a hollow wooden or metal bowl, animal gut (jimmat) and thick nylon strings for lower pitches and wire strings for higher-pitched notes.
Dubbed the devil’s or Satan’s (‘seytan’) instrument by the Amhara this spellbinding instrument was used to compose songs that encouraged sensuality and so-called sinful manifestations of love.
The krar is typically played by poetic storytellers called Azmaris (‘singers’ in Amharic). Although they mostly produced praise and love songs, much like the medieval West African griots, Azmaris also once served as the liaison between leaders and emperors’ high court and the common people, highlighting a social, almost political role of music and spoken word poetry in Ethiopian and Eritrean culture.
In the Amhara highlands, Azmaris were the originators of the emotive ‘Tizita’ or ‘Tezeta’ folk songs, which was tuned to the infamous pentatonic scale widely used in musical genres of the regions and spoke to a feeling of longing, nostalgia and remembrance, and which would inspire the title for Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke’s greatest hit, ‘Tezeta’ (1998).
03 Nov 2026
A look back at the Village Soirée during our As Loud as Freedom exhibition, in collaboration with @localglobal.world
An evening celebrating heritage, community and artistic expression, with performances by @askaboutsewa & @deelo.
Photos by @badreggae
Subscribe to our newsletter using the link in our bio to stay up-to-date with upcoming events! 🔗
29 Oct 2026
From the silent dunes of the Sahara to amplified concert halls around the world, Desert Blues is music born from resilience, poetry, and raw electric passion 🇩🇿 🇲🇱 🇳🇪
It began in the refugee camps and mountain ranges of northern Mali with pioneers like Tinariwen, who swapped traditional lutes for amplified electric guitars to broadcast messages of exile, longing, and resistance across the sands. Decades later, that rebellion morphed into a global sonic force
Bands like Etran d’Laïr developed dynamic, multi-guitar interplay to keep crowds dancing for hours, while virtuosos like Bombino fused fiery Saharan blues with blues-rock.
All artists within the same subgenre but with distinct voices and stories that resonate to tell.
Who is your favourite Desert Blues artist or band on repeat right now? Let us know in the comments
COMMENT “Blues” for our curated playlist of the best songs of the genre.
28 Oct 2026
Nigeria’s musical history did not begin with colonialism or independence in 1960.
From the royal courts of Benin to Nigeria’s earliest commercial recordings, centuries of musical traditions laid the foundations for the sounds we know today.
This is Nigeria on Record. 🇳🇬
27 Oct 2026
A look back at our poetry night during the As Loud as Freedom exhibition, an evening of poetry and spoken word featuring @poetreegreen @delali.cofie @ohigbai @urlocalbrwnskn
Different voices sharing stories around memory, identity, love, place and freedom, and a room that came to listen, connect and feel the power of words together.
Photos by @gilenegraham
Subscribe to our newsletter using the link in our bio to stay up-to-date with upcoming events, private and public 👀 🔗
22 Oct 2026
Why did Fela love acronyms so much?
In the golden era of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti rarely operated in brevity. His tracks frequently stretched past what was considered regular, and many times with the song titles that were just as uncompromisingly long.
Many of his sharpest socio-political anthems had to be condensed into initials. What’s fascinating is how those abbreviations became legend in their own right.
A title like I.T.T. (International Thief Thief) immediately called out multinational exploitation in 1979 Nigeria, while V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power) subverted a standard elite acronym into a weapon against political corruption.
The first recorded version of his use of acronyms was on the 1977 track J.J.D (Johnny Just Drop) a song aimed at Nigerians who have abandoned their culture for western ideology.
The large majority of these titles also had a satirical element to them, as FELA always used his art in different forms to speak up.
What is your favourite Fela acronym?
21 Oct 2026
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