Sierra Leone'smusic is a mixture of native,French, British, West Indian andCreole musical genres.
Palm wine music is representative, played by anacoustic guitar withpercussion in countries throughout coastalWest Africa.
Sierra Leone, like much ofWest Africa is open toRap,Reggae,Dancehall,R&B, andGrime.
The national anthem of Sierra Leone, "High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free", was composed byJohn Akar with lyrics byClifford Nelson Fyle and arrangement by Logie E. K. Wright. It was adopted upon independence in 1961.
The largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone (2009) is that of theMel-speakingTemne people, 35% of the population. Next, at 31%, theMende, along with 2%Mandingo, have music traditions related to Mende populations in neighbouring countries. Other recorded populations were theLimba ( 8%), theKono (5%), theLoko (2%) and theSierra Leone Creole people (2%), while 15% were recorded as "others".
The wars and civil conflict throughout West Africa,[1] have resulted in a decrease in the presence of traditional music artists.
Sierra Leonean palm wine music is known asmaringa, and it was first popularized by the Creole musicianEbenezer Calendar & His Maringar Band, who usedCaribbean styles, especiallyTrinidadiancalypso.[2] Calendar played theguitar,trumpet,mandolin and thecornet, while also penning some of the most oft-played songs in Sierra Leonean music in the 1950s and 60s.[3] His most popular song was "Double-Decker Bus", commissioned byDecca to promote the launching of a double-decker bus line. He eventually moved towards socially and spiritually aware lyrics.
Gumbe (alsogoombay orgumbay), is aCreole musical genre and has also had a long presence in Sierra Leone. The gumbe, a square drum with legs, was animportant cultural symbol for the Jamaican maroon settlers who were to become part of theSierra Leone Creole ethnic community. The drum had always been associated with the invocation oftheir ancestors (Bilby 2007:15), and played an important role in their Maroon strongholds in Jamaica in the 18th century, in theirfight for freedom against the British. It was used for the communication of messagesand also to warn them of future attacks being planned by the British. The sound of thesedrums provoked a trance from which these premonitions were made (Lewin 2000:160).The gumbe is still used today by the descendants of the maroons in Jamaica and Sierra Leone. Currentlythe gumbe enjoys a continuing presence in Creole culture in Sierra Leone. This drum is alsostill used in Freetown to enter into a trance and predict the future in events such as baptismsand weddings (Aranzadi 2010). Gumbe has also been influential on three of Sierra Leones’s 20th centurypopular dance-music styles: namelyAsiko or Ashiko, Maringa and Milo jazz (Collins: 2007:180).[4]Dr. Oloh was the most widely acknowledged innovator of Sierra Leone gumbe and milo jazz music
Beginning in the 1970s, rumba,Congolese music,funk andsoul combined to form a popular kind ofAfropop. Major bands of this era included Sabannoh 75, Orchestra Muyei, Super Combo and the Afro-National. Sierra Leoneans abroad have created their own styles, such asSeydu, Ansoumana Bangura, Abdul Tee-Jay, Bosca Banks, Daddy Rahmanu, Patricia Bakarr and Sidike Diabate and Mwana Musa's African Connexion.[5]
Theinternet has encouraged the youth to new styles of music. Many songs have political and social themes, informing the populace and checking politicians. The independent film,Sweet Salone, displays many of these artists, fans, and their music.
Mwana Musa (Musa Kalamulah) and the band African Connexion married Sierra Leone, Congolese and jazz rhythms. Mwana Musa was an able composer who worked with musicians such as David Toop, Steve Beresford, Ray Carless, Ugo Delmirani, Robin Jones, Mongoley (Lipua Lipua) Safroman (GO Malebo)Len Jones one of Sierra Leones finest guitarists, Lindel Lewis, Ayo-Roy MAcauley leading guitarist from Sierra Leone, Kevin Robinson, Paapa Jay-Mensah etc. African Connexion was signed to Charlie Gillet's Oval Records and produced "C'est La Danse", "Moziki", "City Limits", "Midnight Pressure", "Dancing On The Sidewalk", a soca-tinged soukous, and "E Sidom Panam" - typical Sierra Leone dance music.