does anyone know what style of music

[ladywnch]

is used on Paul Simon's Graceland album?......specifically the African music.

Is it a specific style? I'd like to find more music like it but don't know what to search for.

[Lars39]

1. Ladysmith Black Mombazo !!!

Love listening to them. My favorite song is actually them singing the alphabet with Kermit the Frog.

[ladywnch]

4. thank you so very much!

it is exactly what I was looking for. I just watched (sorry to admit) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the song during the credits just so beautiful..... just found a whole concert on YouTube..... the harmonies and rhythms are just so amazing.

[Lars39]

15. Their songs are on my "happy" playlist.

Here's the Sesame Street song...love the harmonies!

[greendog]

2. Look up "Soukous"

You'd probably like François Luambo Makiadi.

[progressoid]

3. It's a hybrid

the African influence is mostly South African - Mbaqanga and Isicathamiya styles are Zulu.

But Youssou N'Dour is Senagalese. You might know him from this little ditty...

[TM99]

5. Another great South African band with

a similar sound is Johnny Clegg & Savuka -

I saw them for the first time when they opened for Tracy Chapman in the early 1990's. Honestly, they put on a hell of a better show than she did!

[cemaphonic]

7. There's also some zydeco, and one of the tracks is pretty much Los Lobos

One interesting thing about the African music is that it was quickly becoming out of fashion in S Africa. It was still popular with middle-aged audiences in South Africa, but the younger generation was listening to American funk and soul records. Graceland made the township styles cool again in their homeland, as well as introducing them to the rest of the world.

[ladywnch]

6. Thank you folks! this is what I was looking for....

a whole new genre for me to explore and enjoy.

much thanks to you all for the help

[Coventina]

8. In the pop world it's called "Afro-Pop" Check out Vampire Weekend.

[kwassa]

9. Vampire Weekend is not Afro-Pop.

They are just an American pop band.

[Coventina]

11. Maybe not by your standards, but NPR classifies them as such.

Even featuring them on "World Cafe" their world music program:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/world-cafe/2008/12/31/18373357/vampire-weekend-a-punks-on-afro-pop

[kwassa]

12. Not exactly.

The band aims to capture its Afro-pop fandom in its songwriting, and it does well: Stylish songs such as "A-Punk" blend ska and woodwinds, while "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" invokes African dance music, but with lyrics about raging hormones. Vampire Weekend's highly anticipated self-titled full-length is out now.

This does not claim it as Afro-pop, but says the band is fans of Afro-pop.

My username comes from kwassa kwassa, a dance that is done to soukous music from the Congo. Soukous has been the dominant style in Africa for many years. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" has no soukous in it. Just sayin'. I don't know why they get credit from the name alone.

[Coventina]

13. OK, I get it, you're a purist. But the average pop music fan would classify them as such.

By all means, encourage the OP to ignore VW.

[kwassa]

16. I am not a purist at all. Only those who know nothing about African music would classify ...

a non-African band from New York City as Afro-Pop. This is like classifying David Bowie as a great soul artist, or Aretha Franklin as a country star.

This is stunning musical ignorance, frankly. I would like to be more polite, but you don't know a thing about this subject.

Edit to add: I've been listening to Afro-Pop for 30 years. That is how old the kwassa kwassa is. Soukous goes back even further.
and to hear truly great predecessors, listen to Franco and T.P.O.K. Jazz.

Here is Afro-Pop. Diblo Dbala, the most influential guitarist in Africa.

[Coventina]

17. Wow, congrats on making a happy little thread ugly.

Again, I am not the one classifying Vampire Weekend as Afropop, that was numerous writers in the media noting the similarities between their work and Paul Simon's "Graceland" which the OP referenced.

[kwassa]

10. Malathini and the Mahotella Queens "Kazet"

a South African classic.

[Lars39]

14. Happy music!

Thanks for posting that!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. I saw them in person in Portland many years ago

at a zoo concert.

They had the whole audience up and dancing.

[TuxedoKat]

18. If you like Graceland

you would probably enjoy the album he released after that too, Rhythm of the Saints. Not Afro-Pop, but still world music.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Here's the Soweto Gospel Choir's version of "One Love," sung in Zulu

I saw them in Minneapolis a few years ago, and each of the twenty or so singers took turns soloing. It is rare to have a choir in which everyone is capable of singing lead.

If you want more, there are plenty of examples on YouTube.