Artists

Maulidi Juma started singing in the 1960s and formed his original Mombasa Musical Party in 1972. The group has released more than 40 Recordings and continues to be one of the most popular groups of Kenyan coastal taarab. Their music exemplifies the Mombasa sound which shows the influence of Indian read more

Debo Band is a nine piece Ethio-groove collective that has quickly earned an ever-growing and enthusiastic following in the USA performing for American, Ethiopian and Eritrean communities. Since 2006, Debo Band has been immersed in the unlikely confluence of traditional East African polyrhythms and pentatonic scales, classic American soul and read more

Zanzibar's most promising Hiphop group, playing a variety of Rap, Ragga and R&B music using swahili language, like most hip hop artists their songs are about love and issues affecting daily lives of people in their society. They have participated in a number of concerts and at the 2003 Festival read more

Maia & The Big Sky experiment with coastal polyrhythms, mixing these with funk, reggae, jazz and folk, creating a familiarity and warmth that transcends continents. Maia von Lekow’s lyrics in both English and Kiswahili touch on power, love, politics and the strength of women.

Maia has shared stages read more

We celebrate Obert Dube and his Pan African spirit. In recent years, he composed moving eulogies and tributes to African leaders including Kenneth Kaunda, John P. Magufuli and Samia S. Hassan and others, as seen rapidly gaining followers on YouTube.

Obert Dube was born in 1984 in rural Matabeleland, in the read more

Welcome to one of the world's best kept secrets. The Maulidi ya Homu from Mtendeni, Zanzibar is a visually spectacular and spiritually uplifting experience. In the 21st Century only three groups remain in the world still practicing this religious art form, all based in Zanzibar. 

 Maulidi ya Homu read more