50 Essential African Albums (Part 3 of 3)

Here's the final installment of my survey of African music—a special feature for paid subscribers to The Honest Broker

Below is the third—and final—installment of my survey of essential African albums.

Here I cover the period from 1999 to the present day, and there’s so much to enjoy—including Franco and TPOK Jazz, Tinariwen and the desert blues, Youssou N'Dour and his Sufi pop, all the way to music for Saharan cellphones and Shabaka and the Ancestors.

For the earlier installments of this survey, click here for part one, and here for part two.

This is a special feature for paid subscribers to The Honest Broker. My thanks to each of you for making this newsletter possible.

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The Honest Broker is a reader-supported guide to music, books, and culture. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. If you want to support my work, the best way is by taking out a paid subscription.

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50 Essential African Albums (Part 3 of 3)

As noted previously, these are listed in chronological order based on release date (not recording date).

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35. Oliver Mtukudzi: Tuku Music (1999)

Oliver Mtukudzi got his start in the band Wagon Wheels, where he performed alongside Thomas Mapfumo and James Chinombe in the only nightclub open to black patrons under Rhodesia’s white-minority rule. His songs, closely linked with Zimbabwe’s independence movement, draw on a mix of traditional and modern influences with lyrics in Shona, Ndebele, and English. Mtukudzi’s husky baritone, rich and resonant, is one of the most distinctive voices in the history of African music. Even that odd coughing sound he makes sounds cool.

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36. Kandia Kouyaté: Biriko (2002)

For the follow-up to Kita Kan, Kandia Kouyaté delivered an all-acoustic album, richly embedded in traditional Malian soundscapes, but with a kind of minimalist infusion that may occasionally remind you of Terry Riley or Steve Reich. But her vocals are tumultuous, eerily evoking early blues singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, who could reach the last row of the audience without requiring a microphone. The overall effect is riveting, somehow managing to lull and incite at the same time.