Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea is known for machacando, the 4/4 dance style Maelé built and named in the late 1970s out of Fang rhythm and makossa, and for Bubi-rooted popular song from the island of Bioko, carried internationally by Hijas del Sol. The mainland Fang tradition centres on the mvet, a harp-zither of up to fifteen strings played to accompany sung epics. Acoustic guitar bands such as Malabo Strit Band and Desmali's group Dambo de la Costa document the older popular repertoire, and rap has been the most active current scene since the 2010s.

Maelé, born Martiniano Abaga Elé Ndoho in Bata in 1958, was the singer who created and named machacando, the only dance style that belongs specifically to Equatorial Guinea. He began performing in 1976, won the Bata music festival in 1977 and represented the country in Havana in 1978, then recorded his first LP in France in 1983. He sang mostly in Fang over female choruses, brass and strummed guitars, and is still called the King of Machacando. He moved to Madrid in 1991 and died there in 2017.

Hijas del Sol were a duo from Bioko island made up of Piruchi Apo Botupá and her niece Paloma Loribo Apo, who worked together from 1992 to 2006. They recorded for the Spanish label Nubenegra, singing in Bubi and Spanish, and their albums Sibèba and Kottó introduced Equatoguinean music to an international audience. Their 2001 single Ay! Corazón reached number one on Spain's Los 40 Principales chart. Both members have released solo records since, as Piruchi Apo and as Paloma del Sol.

Some of it is, but much of it is not. Spanish is the country's main official language and the one most rap and contemporary pop uses, but Fang is the language of machacando and of most mainland popular song, Bubi carries the Bioko island repertoire, and Annobón has its own Portuguese-based creole. Artists frequently move between two or three languages on the same album, and French and Portuguese are also official languages of the country.

In two places at once. Malabo has an active rap and pop scene, with Negro Bey releasing albums locally, Narkelly Pana running his own label and Nanda Nfá putting out singles through her own channels, plus an annual Malabo rap festival. The other half of the scene is in Spain, where El Chojín has had a three-decade career in Madrid hip-hop and Mefe records from there as well. Artists cross constantly between the two, so the diaspora is best read as part of the same scene rather than separate from it.

Last reviewed: 2026-09