Music of Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea's culture has been more documented than most African countries^{[dubious – discuss]}, and commercial recording remains scarce. This is partially due to the country's small size and a population of only about 676,000. Equatorial Guinea was carved out of three former Spanish colonies: Rio Muni, a strip of land between Cameroon and Gabon, Bioko, an island near Cameroon, and Annobón, an island in the Atlantic Ocean far from the mainland.

The national anthem of Equatorial Guinea was written by Atanasio Ndongo Miyone, and adopted in 1968, when the country gained independence from Spain [2].

Folk music

The largest ethnic group are the Fang, though there are also numerous Bubi and smaller populations of Bisio, Bujeba, Ndowe, Combe and Annobónese people. The Fang are known for their mvet, a cross between a zither and a harp. The mvet can have up to fifteen strings. The semi-spherical part of this instrument is made of bamboo and the strings are attached to the center by fibers. Music for the mvet is written in a form of musical notation that can only be learned by initiates of the bebom-mvet society. Music is typically call and response with a chorus and drums alternating. Musicians like Eyi Moan Ndong have helped to popularize folk styles.

The balélé and the risque ibanga are two of the many dances in Equatorial Guinea, most of which are accompanied by a three or four person orchestra consisting of some arrangement of sanza, xylophone, drums, zithers and bow harps.^[1]

Another popular instrument is the tam-tam, which is a wooden box covered with animal skin. In its center, there are bamboo keys installed with complete musical scales. A second type of tam-tam has two different levels of musical keys. Generally, wooden musical instruments are decorated with fauna images and geometric drawings. Drums are covered with animal skins or animal drawings.^[2]

Popular music

There is little popular music coming out of Equatorial Guinea. Pan-African styles like soukous and makossa are popular, as are reggae and rock and roll. Acoustic guitar bands based on a Spanish model are the country's best-known indigenous popular tradition, especially national stars Desmali y su Grupo Dambo de la Costa.

Other musicians from Equatorial Guinea include Malabo Strit Band, Luna Loca, Chiquitin, Dambo de la Costa, Ngal Madunga, Lily Afro and Spain-based exiles like Super Momo, Hijas del Sol and Baron Ya Buk-Lu.

References

• Guinea Ecuatorial [3]
• [4]
• Dominguez, Manuel. "Malabo Blues". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 477–479. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0