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David Adedeji Adeleke (Davido)

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David Adedeji Adeleke was born on November 21, 1992, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father Adedeji Adeleke is a business magnate and his mother Vero Adeleke was a university lecturer. Davido is the youngest of five siblings and his father’s second-born son.

He attended the British International School in Lagos and at the age of 16, he moved to Alabama, US, to study business administration at Oakwood University.

Davido bought musical equipment while at Oakwood and started making beats. He also worked with his cousins B-Red and Sina Rambo to form the music act KB International.

Davido dropped out of Oakwood University to pursue music full-time and relocated to London, where he worked on his vocals. After returning to Nigeria in 2011, Davido paused his music career and agreed to honor his father by enrolling at Babcock University. In July 2015, he graduated from Babcock with a degree in music after his father paid the university to start a music department for an inaugural class of one student.

2011–2012: Omo Baba Olowo
Davido started working on his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo in 2011. The album’s music is a mixture of Afrobeats and hip hop. Davido worked with Jay Sleek, Maleek Berry, GospelOnDeBeatz, Spellz, Dokta Frabz, Mr. Chidoo, Theory Soundz and Shizzi to produce the album. Omo Baba Olowo features guest appearances from Naeto C, Sina Rambo, B-Red, Kayswitch, Ice Prince and 2 Face Idibia. It received generally negative reviews from music critics, who panned its lyrical content and Davido’s songwriting. The album won Best R&B/Pop Album and received a nomination for Album of the Year at The Headies 2013. It was also nominated for Best Album of the Year at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.

The Naeto C-assisted track “Back When” was released as the album’s lead single on May 7, 2011. It was produced by Davido and received frequent airplay. Davido told television channel Factory 78 he recorded “Back When” in London. The Clarence Peters-directed music video for “Back When” was uploaded to YouTube on May 9, 2011.

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Akon The African American R&B Star Singer

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Akon was born on 16th April 1973 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He grew up in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, and was raised by his father, a Senegalese percussionist, who taught him a lot about music. As a teenager, he permanently moved back to the USA.

It was in jail where he began to appreciate his musical background. After his release, Akon started recording in his home studio, and one if his audition tapes reached the office of Universal. This gave birth to his first Album “Trouble” in the year 2004.

Ongoing Success

Since then, Akon released several more albums and also produced albums for others. An example of his many collaborations with other artists is Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape”.

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Numbers of Music Genres in Africa

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Music genres are plentiful on this continent. Here’s a short list of just a few of them:

Afrobeat
Fela Kuti created Afrobeat by fusing traditional Nigerian music, jazz and highlife. Today, it is often mixed with hip hop or makossa and well known even outside Africa.

Apala
Apala is a percussion-based style of the Muslim Yoruba people in Nigeria, West Africa.

Assiko
Assiko is a rhythmic dance from Cameroon.

Bikutsi
This dance music developped from the traditional music of the Beti in Cameroon. The sexy dance moves remind of the popular Mapouka from the Ivory Coast.

Benga music
Popular music in Kenya. The electric bass guitar imitates the melodies of the traditional Kenyan eight-string lyre called Nyatiti.

Bongo Flava (Tanzania)

Cabo-Love (Cape Verde)

Chimurenga music
Popular style from Zimbabwe. The melodies played by modern instruments are based on the traditional Mbira music of the Shona people.

Coladeira (Cape Verde)

Coupé-Decalé
Pop music from the Ivory Coast/France with danceable percussion and deep bass. This style is said to help Ivorians through tough times and difficult political situations.

Desert Blues
The people living in the Sahara desert have been making blues music long before it got famous in the West. This sounds absolutely brilliant!

Fuji
Popular music genre from Nigeria, based on traditional Muslim Yoruba music.

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Afrobeats – The New Sound of West Africa That’s Going Global

Afro Music Beats Afrobeats is a West African style of music making waves internationally, it is distinct from Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat sound. Scene’s biggest names include D’Banj, Atumpan, Wizkid, May7ven and R2Bees.

Step into any of the countless nightclubs in Lagos and you’re bound to find yourself immersed in a sonic journey of pulsating beats, groovy samples and hip-hop kicks.

In a megacity where everybody loves to dance, the tone is set by the infectious sounds of Afrobeats — a growing music movement that’s struck a chord with youth in West Africa and outside the continent.

Although its name sounds similar to Afrobeat — the eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary sounds pioneered by firebrand multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti — Afrobeats is a new genre on the Anglophone West African music scene.

Back in late 1960s, Kuti, one of Africa’s biggest music stars, used his electrifying grooves and sharp-tongued lyrics as a political vehicle to oppose Nigeria’s military governments.

Afrobeats, however, tends to steer clear from politics. Its mission, says well-known Nigerian music promoter Cecil Hammond, is to make people forget their everyday troubles and have a good time.

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