2face’s African Queen Among Africa’s Most Famous Anthems

BBC World Service listeners recently suggested the African songs that summed up the continent to them.

This was to mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union – formerly the Organisation of African Unity.

BBC’s DJ Edu who compiled the songs voted into a special five-minute mix of 50 songs from 50 countries went on to picked the five songs that he personally felt represented Africa:

They included; African Queen by 2Face Idibia which Edu felt was a very special song. “If you play it anywhere in Africa, people know it. For me, it was the song that introduced African music to the world – you’d be on holiday in Jamaica and you’d hear it,” he said.

Also rounding the top five was Antenna by Fuse ODG a British musician of Ghanaian origin, Daima by Eric Wainaina from Kenya, Agolo by Benin-born Angelique Kidjo, and Motherland by Yvonne Chaka Chaka who is known as the “Princess of Africa”, and is a true ambassador of South African music.