Fun Time With Fode

Today we bring you some sparkling African pop from Guinea courtesy of Fode Baro, the man who - according to Frank Bessem - single-handedly popularised the musical genre "afro-zouk-mandinque". I can't swear that is true, but I have no reason not to trust Frank, and I would defy you to name three other proponents.

Now that Tsonga Disco has broken through to the mainstream (well, sort of), maybe I should focus my efforts on bringing afro-zouk-mandinque to the masses instead. If it is all as good as Fode's stuff, it would be a labour of love. Here are a couple of corkers from his debut album, 1992's "Donsoke".

"N'Na" - Fode Baro

"Nkoro" - Fode Baro

Those of you who clicked through to Frank Bessem's site would not have needed to get beyond the first sentence to work out what today's clip was going to be. That sentence again: "Fode Baro was born in Kissidougou in the Kankan region of Guinea".