East Africa
Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and neighbouring states. Tanzanian Bongo Flava and Ethiopian Ethio-jazz are the region's best-known exports, alongside Kenya's Benga guitar-band tradition.
Most popular
- Hip Hop / R&BBongo FlavaSwahili pop-R&B from Tanzania that has become the dominant popular sound across East Africa.
- JazzEthio-jazzMulatu Astatke's 1960s and 70s fusion of Ethiopian pentatonic modes with Latin percussion and modal jazz — rediscovered worldwide via reissues.
- Electronic & DanceSingeliDar es Salaam street music at 200+ BPM — fast electronic drums, Swahili rap, raw sound design.
- Folk & WorldKadongo KamuUgandan acoustic-guitar storytelling tradition; one singer, one guitar, long narrative songs in Luganda.
- PopBengaKenyan Luo guitar pop that translated the eight-string nyatiti's idioms onto electric guitar in the late 1960s.
- Folk & WorldTaarabSwahili-coast urban song tradition — Arabic-Indian-African fusion in Zanzibar, Arabic strings and orchestral arrangements behind Swahili poetry.
- Folk & WorldAzmari TraditionEthiopian wandering minstrels who improvise satirical, praise and topical verses to the one-string masinko fiddle.
By country
Tanzania
- Hip Hop / R&BBongo Flava
- Electronic & DanceSingeli
Ethiopia
- JazzEthio-jazz
- Folk & WorldAzmari Tradition
ウガンダ
- Folk & WorldKadongo Kamu
Kenya
- PopBenga
タンザニア(ザンジバル)/ケニア(モンバサ)
- Folk & WorldTaarab
By decade
Before 1900
- Folk & WorldAzmari TraditionEthiopia
- Folk & WorldTaarabタンザニア(ザンジバル)/ケニア(モンバサ)
1960s
- Folk & WorldKadongo Kamuウガンダ
- PopBengaKenya
- JazzEthio-jazzEthiopia
1990s
- Hip Hop / R&BBongo FlavaTanzania
2000s
- Electronic & DanceSingeliTanzania
