The neighboring West African countries of Benin and Togo are similar in many respects. Both French-speaking, they also have relatively small populations respectively, unlike Nigeria. The two countries have had their own share of tyranny and despots as leaders which is peculiar to African socioeconomic history. Music has not been given a high profile attention in both countries, yet it reigns in the heart of the people. While Benin boasts of Angelique Kidjo, a veritable superstar on the world music stage, clutching four Grammy gongs into her collection of laurels, Togo also, once had a legend in Bella Bellow (once a diva in Paris and a major talent to behold )

Togo and Benin’s music scene could be utterly different to present realities. In the mid -1980s, the Togolese capital Lome could boast one of the most sophisticated 24 -track recording facilities in Africa at its Africa New Sound studio, where records by Abeti and Dr.Nico were produced. But life had become a struggle under the despot Gnassingbe Eyadema regime with social unrest collapsing any semblance of a music scene at home.

The son Faure, presently, the president of the country since 2005, was just a year old when the father led a coup and became a tyrant on the country. Togo is now a family inheritance. A custom peculiar to Africa’s states.

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Things aren’t so bad for musicians in Benin these days, where it seems democracy is being controlled through the rule of law. The president, Patrice Talon, born in 1958, came into power in April 6th 2016. But the nation’s stars -Prolific producer Wally Badarou, Nel Oliver, Tohon Stan and the superstar Angelique Kidjo -probably owe something to Mathieu Kerekou’s dictatorship (1972 -90 ) in so far, as it encouraged them to seek work abroad and to reject a homeland where artists were only expected to praise the revolution and it’s leaders.

For a long time, the two countries Benin and Togo, have always been under the shadows of their West African neighbours in terms of economic prosperity and politcal exposure. Despite being small in population and economic stride, the two countries continue to hold their own on World music scenes and their dominance ricochet on appreciation of African traditional folklore that they exported to the west.

Articles /Francois Bensignor, Eric Audra from worldmusic.com with additional report by Ireho Aito/images courtesy of Google