Afro-soul is a genre of music that blends elements of soul music with African rhythms and instrumentation. It combines emotive vocal styles and lyrical themes characteristic of soul with traditional African musical elements, including indigenous rhythms, percussion instruments such as drums and shakers, and local languages or dialects.
While artists such as South African singer Miriam Makeba helped popularize soul-influenced African music in the 1950s and 1960s, the term "Afro-soul" has been more commonly used in later decades to describe a range of contemporary artists across Africa. The genre has since grown in popularity across the continent and internationally, often overlapping with styles like Afrobeat, neo-soul, and R&B. Notable musicians Brymo, Nigerian singer Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist Zahara, South African singer Efya, Ghanaian singer Amanda Black, multi award-winning songstress from South Africa Simphiwe Dana, praised as "the best thing to happen to Afro-soul music since Miriam Makeba" Nathi Mankayi Libianca, Cameroonian-American singer Lira (singer) Muma Gee, Nigerian singer Scelo Gowane, South African singer Siphokazi, a South African artist Les Nubians, the French born sisters who are Afropean music singers The Budos Band K'naan Ginger Johnson Doug Kazé, Nigerian singer-songwriter Manu Dibango, from Cameroon Nomfusi, South African artist Lekan Babalola Grace Matata, Tanzanian singer Kumbie, Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Joe Nina, South Africa singer-Songwriter Jabulile Majola, South African singer-songwriter
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