African Soul Rebels returns for a new generation, bringing some of the most adventurous voices in contemporary African music to Birmingham’s historic Town Hall.
At the centre of the evening are Les Amazones d’Afrique, the internationally acclaimed Pan-African female collective whose music combines African traditions with contemporary pop, electronic production and hip-hop while carrying a powerful message about women’s rights, equality and social change.
Formed in Bamako in 2014 by leading Malian musicians including Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Mariam Doumbia, Les Amazones d’Afrique developed as both a musical collaboration and a platform for confronting gender inequality. The collective has subsequently brought together voices from across Africa and its diaspora, demonstrating how music can become a vehicle for both artistic experimentation and activism.
Their music refuses simple categorisation. Traditional influences sit alongside electronic textures, strong rhythms and contemporary production, creating a sound that looks towards the future while remaining connected to African musical heritage.
Joining them is extraordinary Malawian musician Gasper Nali, whose principal instrument is a homemade three-metre-long, one-stringed babatoni bass. Using the instrument alongside percussion, guitar and a cow-skin kick drum, Nali creates rhythmic music that is immediate, joyful and highly distinctive.
The evening will also feature a rising artist selected in association with BBC Introducing, providing a platform for another emerging voice alongside the established international performers.
African Soul Rebels began as a touring platform dedicated to presenting African artists whose music challenged expectations about what African music should sound like. Its return continues that mission, celebrating creativity that moves across borders, genres and generations.
Taking place during Black History Month 2026, the Birmingham concert offers audiences an opportunity to experience African music as a constantly developing creative force — rooted in history but continually reinventing itself.
With feminist activism, West African musical traditions, Malawian innovation and contemporary global sounds sharing the same stage, African Soul Rebels promises one of Birmingham’s most exciting African music events of the autumn.
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