African Music has evolved over the years. Just like the continent itself, the citizens and countries therein, the average African music has seen some degree of westernization coupled with the fact that some of the African songs come with a captivating African dance moves to help popularize the songs. The original background of jams and sounds from the African perspective often makes a perfect blend with the western pop kind of music creating a powerful party beat that is more than compelling to dance to. There are a few Africa musicians who have acquired a great deal of wealth by appealing to the average African’s sense of good music.

They have become so popular with what they know how to do best; you practically have to put down a ton of cash to invite them to grace your occasion. Internationally, they are fast becoming sought after names in the music and entertainment industry making Africa proud.

Tighten your seat belts as I take you on a tour.

10. Jose Chameleone



Joseph Mayanja popularly known by his stage name as Joe Chameleon or Jose Chameleone was born in 1979 and is a popular reggae musician from Uganda.

Singing mostly in Luganda, English and Swahili, Jose started his career at an
young age in the early 1990s as disco MC at Maganjo Mizuri night club while he was still a student at the Progressive Secondary School, Kampala Uganda. He
eventually became affiliated with Kenya’s Ogopa DJs record label. Jose Chameleone’s style of music is a perfect
combination of Ugandan folk music,
Central African rumba, zouk on a background of reggae. He released one
of the most popular songs in the East
Africa: VAlu Valu and has popularized
some of the phrases he uses in his songs
to become regular and everyday words
such as Basiima Ogenze, Nekolera Maali, Shida Za Dunia among others.

He is regarded as a music star who restructured the popular local music in
Uganda at the wake of the 21st century.
Jose Chameleone is the biggest money
maker in the Eastern Africa and has acquired a range of 4 wheels as his “testament” which include; Cadillac escalade, Mercedes Benz ml 200 super custom convertible and a Premio. He also owns a big mansion among the elites of Uganda in Seguka hills located at the outskirts of Kampala.


9. Banky W



BankyW whose real name is Olubankole
Wellington was born on March 27, 1981 in the United States is a Nigerian R&B artist and generally regarded as the King of African R&B. He grew up in Lagos where he began singing in church at an early age and upon completion of secondary school moved to New York to study Engineering. He won and was featured in numerous competitions while he was still a student.

His talent in music has made him one of the richest African musicians. He has been
a brand ambassador for Estisalat mobile
in Nigeria and is currently the face for
Samsung products in the west African nation.

Out of his generous heart, Banky W has started off Mr capable foundation;an education charity organization with the aim to aid in the education of children from poor families.

8. Hugh Masekela



Born on April 4, 1939, Hugh Ramopolo
Masekela is a South African singer and
trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist and composer.

He is one of the most talented Jazz artists in Africa. His talents got him nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Contemporary Pop Performance –
Instrumental” music category in 1968.

In 2010, President Zuma honoured him
with the highest order in South Africa:
The Order of Ikhamanga, and 2011 saw Masekela receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the WOMEX World Music Expo in Copenhagen. The US Virgin Islands proclaimed ‘Hugh`Masekela Day’ in March 2011, not long after Hugh joined U2 on stage during`the Johannesburg leg of their 360`World Tour. U2 frontman Bono described meeting and playing with
Hugh as one of the highlights of his career.
He also received other awards:
27 April 2010, Ghana Music Awards:
2007 African Music Legend award,
2005 Channel O Music Video Awards:
Lifetime Achievement Award,
2002 BBC Radio Jazz Awards: International Award of the Year, nominated for Broadway’s 1988 Tony Award as Best Score (Musical), with music and lyrics collaborator Mbongeni Ngema, for“Sarafina!”.

Masekela owns a professional studio in Botswana, and makes good money on invitations to major festivals across the world and the sales of his albums.


7. 2 Face Idibia



Born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria,
Innocent Ujah Idibia who is more
popularly known by his stage name as 2
Face Idibia, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter, actor and record producer.

Started off as a member of the defunct
Nigerian R&B/hip hop group
Plantashun Boyz. He has 5 Albums to his name and has received numerous nominations for which he won 40 of
the Awards to date and there were just
about 6 other nominations he received
where he did not win.

The ‘African queen’ singer is one of the kings of African music. He has a vast
investment in real estate across Nigeria,
earns around $50k to $80k per show
and owns a night club in Nigeria just to
name a few.

2Face has established an NGO called
2Face Idibia Reach-Out Foundation . In 2009, 2Face was appointed as ambassador the National Agency for
Food and Drug Administration and Control. He released a song “Man
Unkind” in order to raise awareness on
the menace of fake and sub-standard
food and drug products in Nigeria. and
he is the first non-Liberian to become
an honorary member of the Liberian
music society in recognition for his
outstanding contribution to the growth
of music in Africa.

6. Fally Ipupa



Fally Ipupa is a singer and songwriter
from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the early days of his musical
career between 1999 and 2006, he was a
part of the band of Koffi Olomidé,
Quartier Latin International after which he started his own solo career.

His released his first album: Droit chemin in 2006, and his secondalbum Arsenal de Belles Melodies (A2BM) in 2009.

Fally Ipupa won the Kora Awards for Best Artist or Group from Central Africa in 2007 and 3 years after, he won the MTV Africa Music Awards 2010 for Best Video (for Sexy Dance) and Best Francophone.

Fally Ipupa is credited for modernizing the
Lingala music. He is a poster boy for a
number of clothing brands in Paris, where he also performs at sold out shows, making a lot of money.


5. Salif Keita



Salif Keïta, a proud citizen of Mali was born on the 25th of August, 1949. He
has seen the transition of African music
through the ages.

Keita is an afro-pop singer and songwriter whose unique style of music has earned him the title and reputation as the “Golden Voice of Africa”. He is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. While this sounds
interesting, it means that given his royal
heritage, he should never have become a
singer under the Malian caste system,
which was deemed to be the role of a
griot.

Those who know Salif Keita regard him as a very humble man despite his riches. He acquired his private island and a number of real estates in France.

4. Koffi Olomide



Koffi Olomide whose real name is
Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba
was born on Friday, July 13, 1956. The
DR Congolese music star is a soukous
singer, dancer, producer, and composer
and has up to 7 albums up his sleeves which are well patronized in the market.

It is reported that Koffi Olomide charges up to 100,000 euros per show. His album Haut de Gamme: Koweït, Rive Gauche is among the listed 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Koffi Olomide is widely accepted as one of Africa’s biggest and most successful musicians today.


3. D’banj



Dapo Daniel Oyebanjo who is more
popularly known as the Koko Master or D’banj (adopted from a combination of his first name Dapo and his surname Oyebanjo) was born June 9, 1980), is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and
harmonica player.

He has won quite a lot of awards including the MTV Europe Music Awards for Best African Act 2007, MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 Artist of the Year. BET Awards of 2011 for Best International Act; Africa.

D’banj released an international hit song in 2012 “Oliver Twist” which has brought more light along his way.

Oliver Twist is an uptempo dance fusion of Afro-Beats and electronic dance music that topped the African charts 2011 and was a top 10 hit in the UK singles chart in 2012 reaching No 2 on the UK R&B chart.

Dbanj is the first African artist signed
to Kanye west’s GOOD music label. He
was as a campaigner for President
Goodluck Jonathan and has a series of
koko lounges; a high end club in Nigeria
and other investments including Koko
water. D banj also made $1 million
dollars when he was paid by a T.V station to star on his own reality show
called the Koko Mansion. He has a crib
in Atlanta worth of $1.5 million and
reportedly charges on the upside of $
100,000 per show currently.

Frontpage material.

2. P-Square



The Nigerian R&B identical twin brother musicians are among the
wealthiest musicians in Africa. Peter
and Paul who go by the name P- Square produce and release their albums through Square Records.

In December 2011, they joined Akon’s Konvict Muzik label and in the upper year, also signed with Universal Music South Africa in a record distribution deal.

The duo currently make more than $150,000 per show. Square ville, P-Square’s crib which is located at Ikeja is worth $3 million and as part of their brand support, they also have a 3 years deal with Globalcom; a Nigerian telecommunication company as brand ambassadors where they are paid a million dollars a year.


1. Youssou N’dour



Youssou N’Dour is a Senegalese singer who was born on the 1st of October, 1959. He is a talented composer,percussionist, songwriter, actor, businessman and a politician. He was once described as “perhaps the most famous singer alive” in Senegal.

Youssou N’Dour was among those that
reshaped a style of music known in the
Serer language as mbalax which is a
popular Senegalese music type.

It is attributed to him as the richest
musician in Africa. He owns the biggest
media house in Senegal with radio and
TV stations with a lot of investments
in real estate. He once also served as a
Senegalese cultural ambassador. In April 2012, N’dour was appointed the
tourism and culture minister in the
cabinet of new Prime Minister Abdoul
Mbaye.

---------------

Culled from [color=#00099]"Answers Africa".[/color]

Front Page Please!

Nonsense!
how many million copies did any of dbanj's albums sell? by the way how many albums has he? fally ipupa was kofi olomide's dancer, later separated and started his own just a few albums still struggling to fit in. who is banky when we talk music-riches in Africa? we can undoubtedly tell the likes of Hugh Masekela, Kofi Olomide, Salif Keita, 2face, Youssou N’dour also Viviane N’dour, not forgetting Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi
music biznes somewhat goes with drug trafficking and such like fast-lane-runs and there are men who have been in the game for decades.
- how many of us even know Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi he has up to 55 best selling albums from 1978 to 2012. acted more than 5 hit movies from 1990 to 2012,
this man's name was not in the list but someone who is only known for a single mo-hit track 'oliver twist' was there?
Nonsense!!

i see a heavy argument brewing over the order the artist appear. personally i believe the order

@991, the topic states the Richest, not the best.

This list shows how they currently ranked in the earnings department.

Maybe your Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi might have made the list if it was top 20, alas it wasn't, so here we are.

FrostyZonn: @991, the topic states the Richest, not the best.

This list shows how they currently ranked in the earnings department.

Maybe your Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi might have made the list if it was top 20, alas it wasn't, so here we are.

Well said. The dude sounded really bitter.
@991 is this musician in question your countryman?

why is Don Jazzy not on the list? source please

Valiantvaliant: why is Don Jazzy not on the list? source please

This is for Musicians not producers. And even if He were a full blown musician, I don't think he'd have made the list anyway.

Una get tym to dey analys people's life o.

Dlasdon: The richest musicians we are talking about here, is it those that made it from music or from ENDORSMENTS? Cos if its strictly from Music, Banky should not be there. Is D banj meant to be there?... Ok leave him. 2face ok. Psquare ok. I don't know the other african artists but to me, 2face and psquare are musicians from Nigeria i know that their title is well earned. Porter pls review this list well.

Everybody in that list are valid. It's both from music and endorsements btw.