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Music of Guinea-Bissau
Home of the griot/jeli tradition, the kora and balafon, Afrobeat, Highlife, Mbalax and the desert blues of the Sahel.
Sung and searched in Portuguese. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
Roots and traditions
National music
Independence from Portugal was declared in 1973 after a long struggle. "Esta É a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada" ("This Is Our Beloved Country"), composed by Xiao He with words by Amílcar Cabral, is the national anthem of Guinea-Bissau, as it was of Cape Verde until 1996. In contrast to other Portuguese colonies like Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde, the fado style hardly penetrated Guinea-Bissau's music. Popular song lyrics, however, are almost always in Guinea-Bissau Creole, a Portuguese-based creole language. They are often humorous and topical, revolving around current events and issues such as AIDS.
Popular music
Popular music
Gumbe, the first popular song tradition to arise in the country after independence, had begun in 1973 with the recording of Ernesto Dabó's "M'Ba Bolama" in Lisbon. Dabó's record producer, Zé Carlos, had formed the popular Cobiana Djazz in 1972. The next popular band was Super Mama Djombo with their 1980 debut Cambança, followed by Africa Livre, Chifre Preto and Kapa Negra. In the 1980s genres like kussundé began to become popular, led by Kaba Mané, whose Chefo Mae Mae used electric guitar and Balanta lyrics. Angolan pop music, called kizomba, supports a number of artists singing in both English and Portuguese.
Read the full article: Music of Guinea-Bissau Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
Playing now
What Guinea-Bissau is listening to in 2026
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Live radio
Radio from Guinea-Bissau
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.