"Paris in the ’80s was arguably one of the largest global hubs for African music, playing host to musicians from across the African diaspora and generating an enormous volume of releases that few other cities could rival at the time. The situation came about early in the decade, through a perfect storm of affordable studio spaces, newly relaxed broadcasting laws that saw a flourishing of commercial and community radio stations and a record-hungry public with the necessary disposal income to fuel the musical output. At the end of the ’70s, producers and musicians from across the diaspora were setting up shop in the city, selling records from across Europe and Africa as well as the lucrative 'DOM/TOM' market – the French territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and Réunion where many African artists would also tour. Although the broad term 'African music' overgeneralises what is evidently the product of many countries that are culturally, economically, linguistically and musically distinct, the meetings and collaborations of musicians and players from countries like Congo, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal led to the development of a geographically specific aesthetic emanating from Paris – pulling in influences, techniques and styles from across Africa, the Caribbean and America to create a kind of Pan-African pop music that resonated far beyond the city itself. ..."
Red Bull Music Academy Daily (Video)
