Map West Africa

Your Guides I’m Olayinka and this is my best friend Baboo. We’re going to show you around our home, West Africa!

Across West Africa, from country to country and village to village, there are many different cultures. One thing everyone has in common is a love for song and dance. These special rhythms are my favorite part of being West African because I love to dance!

You probably know more about West African music than you think. That’s because many of the sounds of West Africa were carried around the world during the slave trade. Today types of music you might know well, like jazz, blues and reggae, trace their roots to the ancient rhythms of the region.

Check Out These Local Sounds:

• Ghana’s highlife, Senegal’s mbalax (pronounced m-ba-lakh) and Mali’s griots (pronounced gree-ohs) are three examples of music from West Africa that’s recognized all over the world.
• West African djembe (pronounced gem-bey) drumming is known and loved all over the world—you might even be able to find a djembe at your local music store.

Art

Whenever I show visitors around West Africa, they always ask me about our carved masks. There are lots of other kinds of art in West Africa, like wood carvings, bead work and weaving, but masks are the art form we’re most famous for.

You might have seen these masks before at museums in your home town, but I bet you didn’t know these interesting facts about West African masks:

• The Dogon and Bobo people—two West African tribes—are both known for their very detailed masks and the dances they design especially for when they’re wearing them.
• Masks aren’t made to hide the person wearing them. Actually, the mask carver tries to capture a unique aspect of the wearer’s personality in the mask, so that it comes through on the outside.
• Masks are seen as a way to connect to the supernatural world—they bring the inner magic out in whoever wears them.

Sing This West African Song

My friends across West Africa love singing. We even sing when we’re at school. Here’s one of my favorite songs—it’s sung to the tune of a song you probably know called “Frère Jacques” (or “Brother John”). We sing it every day before our classes start:

We’re going to our classes

With clean hands and faces

To pay great attention

To what we are taught

Or else we shall never

Be happy or clever

For learning is better

Than silver and gold

Learn the Lingo

Practice these phrases in Krio, a common West African Language. Click on the words to hear how they are pronounced.

How are you? / Ow di bodi?

How was your day? / Ow di day?

My name is / Mi name na

I like you / Ar lek you

Will you be my friend? / Ar want you for padi?

How much does this cost? / Omos for dis tin?