Afrobeat (of which Fela Kuti pioneered) and Afro-rock are genuinely some of the coolest fusion genres to ever exist.
If you need an introduction, the Nigeria 70 compilation is a great place to start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upN0WEbFmUY&list=OLAK5uy_nQZ...
This was also a really neat compilation for discovering artists I’d never heard of:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-mogadis...
King Sunny Ade is another great Nigerian artist! Ja Funmi is one of my favorites: https://youtu.be/LIO9MjfOo48?si=bZFOTgQF0SZZgT_X
Africa has a ton of fantastic musicians.
For instance, Dur Dur Band from Somalia: https://youtu.be/cVfrEmO5no4?si=aeqeufJpsKiIyvQX
Mulatu Astatke from Ethiopia: https://youtu.be/jXdVpT_aSJU?si=jMzwDIS75L9pqhxf
John Wizards from South Africa: https://youtu.be/1FNWfhmTn1M?si=lmHOUgvqxYS_P_Av
It’s a very deep well.
I've enjoyed some of the Touareg stuff (like Tinariwen or Tarwa N-Trini -Berber, really). You can see where some of the American blues came from.
If you ever get the chance to see Tinariwen live, take it!
I doubt we'll be seeing them in the US for a while... :'(
A friend of mine went to see The Hu[0], last time they toured the US. Said it was one of the most awesome concerts he'd ever attended.
[0] https://www.thehuofficial.com
It's been a while since I've listened to the Afro rock. Need to start digging again, thanks for the links.
Recently I've been really into Senegalese sabar sounds. If you can catch this collective live somewhere, go see:
https://ndagga.com/
If I may suggest two artists besides the great Fela Kuti: William Onyeabor (try "Tomorrow") and Dizzy K Falola (try "Sweet Music").
William Onyeabor got me into African fusion. He's definitely one of the most interesting characters on the scene and the synthesizers in his music were some of the best. RIP.