I listen to world music from time to time, have a handle on Arabic, aware of Indian, know my salsa from my merengue and can hear zero differences between Nigerian and South African pop.
I have those kinda problems.
I am sure there are million people who can tell the difference between Delta and Chicago blues in an instance. I’m not one of them.
And if there is some miles of difference between the myriad of African bands streaming through I can’t tell it.
I’m not saying it all sounds like one song… I am saying it sounds like African pop -you can hear it on Freshly Ground’s back up to Shakira on “Waka Waka” . If this is a completely different sound from Ladysmith Black Mambata, er, how is it? Same rhythms, same instrumentation, same complete dependence on melody and harmony.
Anyway, I love “Waka Wake” though I keep expecting Fozzie Bear to join in.