My top African musicians in no particular order. . .

1. Lucky Dube

STYLE: Contemporary Reggae

MINI BIO: Lucky Dube (born: Ermelo Dube) (pronounced: Doo bay) is one of South Africa's best selling artists and one of its most outspoken performers.. Although he initially sang in the traditional Zulu mbaganga style, his move to reggae in 1984 was sparked by his quest to express his anger against the oppression of apartheid. While The Village Voice observed, "The spirit of Lucky Dube's music and dance epitomizes the spirit of Black liberation", "Niceup Magazine" said, "(Dube's) lyrics have brought an original voice to reggae by chronicling the political and spiritual struggles of his South African breathren". Dube's musical talents were obvious from an early age. By the age of nine, he was conducting his school choir. After singing with school rock and roll bands, he joined his cousin, Richard Siluma's Mbaganga band, The Love Brothers. Together with the group, he recorded his first single in 1979. Inspired by the controversal lyrics of Peter Tosh, Dube moved to reggae in 1984. His earliest attempts with the newly-adopted style were met by strong opposition by the then-all-white South African government and his first reggae album, "Rasta Never Die" was banned from radio airplay. Without notifying his record label, Dube re-entered the recording studio and cut a second reggae album, "Think About The Children". The album became a major hit and achieved gold record status. Dube's third reggae album, "Slave", sold more than five hundred thousand copies.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Slave, Prisoner, Remember Me, Feel Irie

2. Onyeka Onwenu

STYLE: Afro Soul

MINI BIO: One of Nigeria's first ladies of song, Onyeka has been singing Gospel and and many other styles of music in Nigeria since the 1970s.

Now based in Lagos, Onyeka performs at a wide variety of of the highest level functions in Nigeria

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Ekwe, Wait for me, Halleluiah


3. Brenda Fassie

STYLE: Afro Soul/Pop

MINI BIO: Brenda Fassie is an African pop singer from Soweto township in South Africa. If you haven't heard her track Vul'indlela, just search for it. Good music.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Vul'indlela, Weekend Special, Sumbulala


4. Miriam Makeba
BORN: March 4th, 1932

WHERE: J'borg, South Africa

MINI BIO: Following a three decade long exile, Miriam Makeba's return to South Africa was celebrated as though a queen was restoring her monarchy. The response was fitting as Makeba remains the most important female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa. Hailed as The Empress Of African Song and Mama Africa, Makeba helped bring African music to a global audience in the 1960s. Nearly five decades after her debut with the Manhattan Brothers, she continues to play an important role in the growth of African music.
Makeba's life has been consistently marked by struggle. As the daughter of a sangoma, a mystical traditional healer of the Xhosa tribe, she spent six months of her birth year in jail with her mother. Gifted with a dynamic vocal tone, Makeba recorded her debut single, "Lakutshona Llange," as a member of the Manhattan Brothers in 1953. Although she left to form an all-female group named the Skylarks in 1958, she reunited with members of the Manhattan Brothers when she accepted the lead female role in a musical version of King Kong, which told the tragic tale of Black African boxer, Ezekiel "King Kong" Dlamani, in 1959. The same year, she began an 18 month tour of South Africa with Alf Herbert's musical extravaganza, African Jazz And Variety, and made an appearance in a documentary film, Come Back Africa. These successes led to invitations to perform in Europe and the United States.

Makeba's successes as a vocalist were also balanced by her outspoken views about apartheid. In 1960, the government of South Africa revoked her citizenship. For the next thirty years, she was forced to be a 'citizen of the world.' Makeba received the Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize in 1968. After marrying radical Black activist Stokely Carmichael, many of her concerts were cancelled, and her recording contract with RCA was dropped, resulting in even more problems for the artist. She eventually relocated to Guinea at the invitation of president Sekou Toure and agreed to serve as Guinea's delegate to the United Nations. In 1964 and 1975, she addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the horrors of apartheid.

Makeba remained active as a musician over the years. In 1975, she recorded an album, A Promise, with Joe Sample, Stix Hooper, Arthur Adams, and David T. Walker of the Crusaders. Makeba joined Paul Simon and South Africa 's Ladysmith Black Mambazo during their world-wide Graceland tour in 1987 and 1988. Two years later, she joined Odetta and Nina Simone for the One Nation tour.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Click Song, Pata Pata, Mbube, Kwedini, Umhome, Saduna

5. Sir Dr Warrior & the Oriental Brothers

STYLE: African Highlife

MINI BIO: One of the most successful bands in Nigeria during the 1970s, the Oriental Brothers have continued to record as a variety of splintered off bands. These have included Dr. Sir Warrior & His Oriental Brothers International, Prince Ichita & the Great Oriental Brothers International Band, and the Oriental Brothers International. While each of these groups had their distinct sound, they shared the original band's passion for blending Congolese guitar picking and traditional Igbo rhythms. At a time of great struggle due to the Biafran War, the Oriental Brothers offered a rare light of hope. According to Nigerian magazine Kwenu, the Oriental Brothers played a very important spiritual role in keeping many Ndiigbo sane. They were the pride of a people traumatized by a war so vicious.
The original Oriental Brothers were formed by Godwin Kabaka Opara with his brothers Ferdinand Dan Satch Emeka Opara, Christogonous Ezebuiro "Warrior" Obinna, and Kabaka Opara, along with Nathaniel "Mangala" Ejiogu, Hybrilious Dkwilla' Alaraibe, and Prince Ichita. Ejiogu died shortly before the band's success. The first split within the group occurred in 1977 when founding members F. Dan Satch Opara and Prince Ichita left to start their own bands under the Oriental Brothers moniker. While Opara's group recorded six albums between 1977 and 1984, Ichita's band, featuring original Oriental Brothers member Hybrilious "Akwilla" Alaraibe, recorded two albums before Ichita's death in the early '80s. Akwilla went on to join Dr. Sir Warrior's group, remaining until Warrior's death in 1999. The three Opara brothers reunited to record two albums: Anyi Abiala Ozo in 1987 and Oriental Ge Ebi in 1996.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Anam Ele Chi, Uwa Atu Alamujo, Nwa Ada Di Nma, Onye Oma

6. Magic System

WHERE: Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)

MINI BIO: They might be one hit wonders, but 2002 will not be complete without Premier Gaou

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Premier Gaou

7. Christy Essien-Igbokwe (aka Akpeno)

Another top Nigerian female musician, who made the 80's so cool. Love the voice.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Te tanu nula, Seun rere

8. Yvonne Chaka-Chaka

WHERE: South Africa

MINI BIO:One of the first South African artists to break through to the international stage, Yvonne Chaka Chaka (born: Yvonne Mhinga) continues to attract attention with her infectious pop melodies, youth-minded lyrics (mostly in English), and girlish charm. Although she has yet to return from a self-imposed hiatus to raise her four children, the world eagerly waits for a comeback of the "princess from Africa." With her powerful alto voice, Chaka Chaka helped to turn bubblegum disco into South Africa's dominant dance music of the 1980s and early '90s. Working with producer Sello "Chicco" Twala, she followed her 1984 hit debut single, "I'm In Love With a D.J.," with a string of gold and platinum hits. Chaka Chaka continues to run her company Chaka Chaka Productions.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Umqombothi, Thank you Mr DJ, I'm burning up, Let him go

9 . LadySmith Black Mambazo

FORMED: 1974

WHERE: South Africa

MINI BIO: Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded by Joseph Shabalala in 1974. They've cut well over 30 albums since, but the group did not become well known outside of South Africa until Paul Simon asked them to perform on Graceland.

The group consists of seven bass voices, an alto, a tenor, and Shabalala singing lead. The combo immediately began releasing albums at a staggering rate, offering a massive catalog of vocal music. Even if you don't speak Zulu, when they hit a low rumbling note, you can literally feel the power of their voices in your body.

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Homeless, How Long, Hello My Baby, Township Jive

10. King Sunny Ade
BORN: 1946

WHERE: Ogbomosho, Nigeria

MINI BIO: King Sunny Ade is the undisputed king of juju music, the dance-inspiring hybrid of western pop and traditional African music with roots in the guitar tradition of Nigeria. Although he's yet to equal the success that he enjoyed with his early-1980s albums and American tours, Ade and his band, His African Beats, continue to weave an infectious blend of electric guitars, synthesizers and multi-layered percussion. Born to a family of Nigerian royalty, Ade left school to pursue a career in music.

Ade has remained a powerful force in Nigeria. Money received from his early albums has been used to launch an oil firm, a mining company, a nightclub, film and video production company, a PR firm and a record label specializing in recordings by African artists. It's been estimated than more than seven hundred people are employed by Ade's companies.

In the mid-1990s, Ade founded the King Sunny Ade Foundation, an organization that includes a performing arts center, state of the art recording studio and housing for young musicians and performers on a five acre tract donated by the Lagos state government. Ade currently serves as chairperson of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria. In 1996, Ade formed a "supergroup", The Way Forward, featuring top-notch Nigerian musicians. Ade and His African Beats have been featured in three films — Juju Music in 1988, Live At Montreux in 1990 and Roots of Rhythm in 1997. .

SONG HIGHLIGHTS: Suku Suku Bam Bam, Kiti Kiti, Iya-Mi, Ja Funmi

Those that didn't quite make my List:

Hugh Masakela
Femi Kuti
Chief Sir Sikiru Ayinde Barrister
Oliver De Coque
Joe Nez
Manu Dibango
Majek Fashek
Chris Mba
Mike Okri
Angelique Kidjo
RAs Kimono
Youssou N'Dour
Prince Nico Mbarga
Ebenezer Obey
Sonny Okosun
Edna Ogholi
Bright Chimezie
Chief Osita Osadebe
Osibisa
Sir Shina Peters
Nelly Uchendu
Papa Wemba
Khadja Nin
Celestine Ukwu  ¶ 4:23 AM

  Don't you hate it when it feels like anything that could possibly go wrong actually goes wrong... Well that's what it feels like between yesterday and today. I have done everything I could possibly do to stay away from trouble. But it seems like trouble follows me everywhere I go. As I was driving to work yesterday . The cop decides to pull me over because My license plates were expired. He just happened to pull up behind me. I should have known better. I later called Maureen to let her know that I was at the campus police department. I was sort of upset because this shouldn't have been the case. Anyways this messed up the rest of my day. I began to take things a little more seriously that afternoon. I went to the DMV to see if I can get the plates renewed and basically they told me that I can really do anything until the 17th of May. I spoke to my lawyer, and he asked me to fax the information I had over to him. I told I would do that on wednesday. I was sort of nervous about the whole thing. I will try to figure out the whole thing when I get a chance. I rode the bus this morning to work. It wasn't a bad ride at all. I felt pretty dumb, Hopefully we will be able to fix this problem at the next court date. I still have to deposit my tax return money into my account. I am hurting right now cause I don't know what I can do. There never a moment of rest.Hopefully by the end of this summer all of these issues will be sorted out. But for right now I will be in the hot seat until I fix this problem. Well I just needed to pout to someone and the only one I could talk to was this blog. Thanks for listening.  ¶ 1:22 PM

  Well another Episode in my life just passed. I ompleted my second class presentations this evening and I was sooo Excited. The Class was CDSS Community Decisions Support Systems. We did a project on the Boone County Vision Project. This projec absically talked about developing community participation in decision making. But lets get to the Nitty Gritty. My mother called last night and apparently someone had stolen her card and used some of her money from teh account. I can see how that can upset anyone. I told here that I would do what I can to help her out with getting her money back. I am also realizing that I don't have that much money to work with. Hopefully everything will turn out just fine. The softball game was cancelled last night becauase a thunderstorm was underway. A tornado hit down in Lawrence where Candyce lives. But she was ok. Anyways I don't feel l ike sayin g toom much cause I have lot of work to do. Later...  ¶ 9:26 AM

  I just wanted to let everyone know that I would be starting this page so that we all can post information on here when ever we wanted. I think its a great site to start a family journal. That way we know whats going on in each others lives. I hope everyone is feeling great. Me myself I have been really busy with completing my finals and all my assignment. I have a poster presentation due on thursday and a final exam tommorow afternoon. I have been studying my butt off for the final exam tommorow. But I'm not sure how well I am going to do. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that it comes out ok. But who knows..

Well I just wanted to say a few words before I posted the page for the first time. I hope this page stuff works.

Alfred  ¶ 12:25 AM

  This is the second posting.  ¶ 8:51 PM