Kleptomaniax is a rap group from Nairobi, Kenya. The group consists of three members: Roba (Robert Manyasa), Collo (Collins Majale) and Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu). Kleptomaniax were formed in 1999, when they were still high school students at the Nairobi School. The group joined the Ogopa DJs label and released their first single, “Freak It” in … Read more
Henry Ate was the brainchild of Karma-Ann Swanepoel, a singer/songwriter from Johannesburg, South Africa. The band formed in 1996, when guitarist Julian Sun was playing at a music festival with the band Urban Creep and invited Karma out of the audience to sing. The resulting impromptu performance encouraged them to create their own group, and … Read more
Formed in the early ’90s by South African vocalist/guitarist Dave Matthews, the Dave Matthews Band presented a more pop-oriented version of the Grateful Dead crossed with elements of jazz, funk, and the worldbeat explorations of Paul Simon and Sting. Matthews populated the group with several Virginia-based musicians — bassist Stefan Lessard, saxophonist Leroi Moore, violinist … Read more
Boom Shaka is one of the leading reggae bands in California. With militant and confrontational lyrics sung by growl-edged vocalist Trevor Felix and set to the steady rhythms of bassist Ray “Bassie” Felix and drummer Watson “Drummie” Duverney and the danceable melodies of guitarist Binghi Cornwall and keyboardist Lester “Lesterfari” Johnson, the band has continued … Read more
Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group formed in Johannesburg in 1996. They released their first studio album, Leaders of D’Gong, in 1997, followed by The Concerto(1998)Bongolution (2001) and New Construction (2005). Lead singer Thandiswa Mazwai published her debut solo album, Zabalaza, in 2006. by Craig Harris A dance-inspiring mix of South African kwaito, … Read more
A South African industrial band that takes a multimedia approach to performance, Battery 9 was assembled by Paul Riekert (vocals), first as Breinskade, under which name a single techno album, Bierbaade, was recorded. Breinskade members At “Devious” Nel (percussion, sampler) and Huyser Burger (percussion, painting, electric drill) were drafted for Battery 9, with guitarist Arnaud … Read more
Assagai was an Afro-rock band, active in the early 1970s in London, whose relatively short career produced two albums recorded in 1971. It has been described as “the second best-known African group of the late 60s/early 70s in Britain” after Osibisa. The original band consisted of five members, three from South Africa and two from … Read more
We Are Messengers make Christian music with a bright, adult alternative sound. They hit the Christian Top Ten with their eponymous debut album, released in 2016, and again in 2020 and 2021 with Power and Wholehearted, respectively. Founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2015 after Darren and his wife, singer Heidi Mulligan, relocated from Monaghan, Ireland, … Read more
Influenced by the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd and other artists such as U2 and Rich Mullins, Third Day were originally formed by vocalist Mac Powell and acoustic guitarist Mark Lee. The duo added bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr from another local band, and recorded some demos. Third Day’s live shows gradually built … Read more
Following leader Bob Marley’s death from cancer on May 11, 1981, the Wailers Band struggled for nearly a decade for direction, hampered from releasing their own music by a Gordian knot of legal entanglements. Anchored by world-class bassist Family Man Barrett and his brother, drummer Carlton (who was murdered by gunmen hired by his wife … Read more