My love for African music

Good morning wonderful people. Welcome to my blog.

Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music plays a very important role in the society. Music can also said to be a kind of medicine. It heals the heart, uplifts the spirit. Music is a rhythm that can inspire, change moods and atmospheres. Inspiration of music comes from the beat and lyrics. One of the reasons I love and prefer African music.

This is not to say that I don’t like to listen western music but the western artists mostly use western instrument to make their music and does not really pass the vibe I need as a African person.

I love African music because of its words of encouragement, the motivation and inspiration it passes in its lyrics and the lyrics speak about the everyday happenings in our great continent...Africa. African music makes me excited when I’m moody, calm and also relaxed when I’m angry. I enjoy listening to these songs even when I’m working and also when I am resting.
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There are many different genres of popular music in Africa. Each of this genres has its own unique history and characteristics. I’m going to be mentioning just few of them.
Highlife, Afro beats, Juju and Amapiano .

Apart from the beats and lyrics of African music, another thing that excites me about African music is the instruments used in producing the music. It gives me joy. My favorite African instrument is the talking drum but in Nigeria we call it the Ogene.
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There are other instruments used to produce the African music. Such as Drums: drums are one of the most important instruments in African music. The drums give this exceptional rhythm to music. Some of the most well-known African drum traditions include the djembe from West Africa, the dhol from South Asia, and the talking drum from West Africa.
Xylophones: Xylophones are instruments that consist of a series of wooden bars that are struck with mallets or heavily built sticks to produce sound. They are commonly used in traditional African music, particularly in Southern Africa. They are also used in the western part of Africa. In Nigeria it is mostly used by the Akwa ibomites.

I’ll also be sharing some African music artists. This is a small sample of the many talented artists in African music.
Angelique Kidjo is a Beninese singer and songwriter .
Amadou & Mariam are Malian couples and musician that sing in different languages and mix different music styles together .
Nneka is a Nigerian singer and songwriter who is known for her powerful and socially conscious lyrics.
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So to conclude, music can make you feel so good, calm and relaxed. I’ll recommend you try some African music sometimes, it’s something you’ll enjoy. The beats, lyrics and rhythms are just so soothing. If you don’t enjoy them you can try other music. But personally I’ll recommend gospel songs.
Thank you for your time on my blog.
Best regards
@imaima