WorldMusic

East Africa

7 genres

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

Ethiopia

ウガンダ

Kenya

タンザニア(ザンジバル)/ケニア(モンバサ)

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

1990s

2000s

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Japanese version: /ja/regions/east-africa