This year has seen the untimely deaths of two of the world’s most important cultural ambassadors. The Congolese rumba composer and TPOK Jazz singer Pepe Ndombe Opetum passed on around the same time we ...

A CD series called Congotronics showcases urban traditional bands in Kinshasa, Congo. The first Congotronics CD was a hit in Europe and the United States, especially popular with DJs who work the ...

Papa Wemba, a musician, actor and fashion icon who collaborated with Stevie Wonder, achieved fame and fandom far beyond the reaches of his native Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The musician—born ...

Amid singing, clapping, and dancing to traditional Congolese music, Pope Francis celebrated the Zaire Use of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday. The pope began his ...

Rhiannon visits guitarist Niwel Tsumbu on his family farm near Kinsale in County Cork. Niwel Tsumbu is a guitarist and singer who grew up in Kinshasa with the traditional Soukous music of the Congo.

Singer and composer Joseph Kabasele, aka Le Grand Kallé, is widely credited with the creation of "Congolese rumba," the most popular style in Central and East Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. In ...

• Read Federico Martinez's review of the Bichini Bia Congo Dance Theater Co.'s performance at the Global Awareness Festival in his music blog Ear Wax. • Video of Pline Mounzeo and Biza Sompa of ...

This has been a strong year for African music, with two big trends emerging. The first is the continuing integration of African music into the U.S. and European mainstream. Nigerian Afrobeat is played ...