African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with Western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa, zouk, and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from Africa, taken to the Americas by enslaved Africans. These rhythms and sounds have subsequently been adapted by newer genres like rock, and rhythm and blues. Likewise, African popular music has adopted elements, particularly the musical instruments and recording studio techniques of the Western music industry. The term does not refer to a specific style or sound but is used as a general term for African popular music.
South African , isicathamiya, choral vocal group Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds pictured in 1941- most famed for their song "Mbube" , the origin of The Lion King's song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
Orchestra Baobab
A Congolese rumba group performing in Léopoldville
Abeti Masikini is one of the African female artists who revolutionized African music with her unique blend of rhythms.
Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, jùjú, fuji, afrobeat, highlife, Congolese rumba, soukous, ndombolo, makossa, kizomba, Taarab, and others. African music also uses a large variety of instruments from all across the continent. The music and dance of the African diaspora, formed to varying degrees on African musical traditions, include American music like Dixieland jazz, blues, jazz, and many Caribbean genres, such as calypso and soca. Latin American music genres such as cumbia, salsa music, son cubano, rumba, conga, bomba, samba and zouk were founded on the music of enslaved Africans, and have in turn influenced African popular music.
Umm Kulthum
Aar Maanta performing with his band at Pier Scheveningen Strandweg in The Hague, Netherlands
Algerian musician Abderrahmane Abdelli playing the mandole
Traditional drummers in Ghana