“…This year’s African nominees including Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, Tyla, Eddy Kenzo and Youssou N’Dour, reflect a continent whose creative output has grown too loud, too distinct, and too commercially successful to be overlooked. …”
via: https://www.africanews.com/2025/11/14/africas-growing-influence-at-the-grammys/
Well, this has not always been the case. Just 30 years ago, the general publics knowledge about #AfricanMusic was limited to a few hit songs and collaborations by famous musicians, notably the classic “Graceland” by Paul Simon. He specifically chose for example the young, but already locally well known bass player Bakithi Kumalo, whose fretless bass-sounds in the song … revolutinized bass playing in various genres.
In the early Nineties, we started a specialised “Mailorder”-Business in New York City, selling “African Music, Film & Books”. Its name was XALAM – and whenever I will find some of the old catalogs in the archives, these scans will appear here…
(to be continued…)
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