This week’s selection comes from Dr Janet Topp Fargion, Lead Curator of World and Traditional Music. Zanzibari musician, Makame Faki, affectionately known by the nickname ‘Sauti ya zege’ (‘Voice of gravel’), passed away aged 77 on 18 January 2020. He was known for his exuberance, always with a big smile…

Negusa Nagast (King of Kings) Menelik II of Ethiopia Guest blog by Eyob Derillo of the British Library Ethiopian collection The year 2019 marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of King Menelik II, one of Ethiopia’s most famous and influential monarchs. King Menelik and his wife Queen Taytu bequeathed…

This week’s selection comes from Mat Hart, World & Traditional Music volunteer for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. This beautiful song is composed and performed by Madi Lehbib, who sings and plays percussion on this track, with accompaniment from guitarist Mahmud Bara. The song is sung in local Arabic dialect –…

Hazem Jamjoum joined the British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership Project in April 2019 as Gulf Audio Curator and Cataloguer. Over the next 2-3 years he will be working on the Library’s audio collections connected with the Gulf region to scope, catalogue and research them, to manage their preservation and access…

This week’s selection comes from Adonis Leboho, Communications Intern for Unlocking our Sound Heritage. Last Thursday, people all over the world marked Mandela Day through commemorative events celebrating the legacy of the heroic anti-apartheid revolutionary. Nelson Mandela fought against institutionalised racial segregation in South Africa for decades, enduring twenty-seven years…