Simon G,

Thanks for sharing information on the Hausa language. Thanks also for your other comments, particularly your interesting theory that Hausa songs & phrases may have come to be known in Liberia, West Africa as a result of freed people of Hausa descent who were relocated there from the United States.

Let me say that I very much agree with your comment that is rather simplistic to categorize folk songs on a continental basis.

It would be great if there were Mudcat threads specifically about Nigerian songs, Ghanaian songs, Kenyan songs, and South African songs etc. And it would be wonderful if there were Mudcat threads specifically about Hausa songs, Akan songs, Luo songs, Zulu songs etc.

However, as I sure you're aware, Mudcat threads are quickly archived if they have few comments posted to them. As you may be aware, as evidenced by a perusal of Mudcat threads by title and content, few Mudcat members regardless of their race/ethnicity or nationality have heretofore expressed much interest in African folk songs & African culture. This may be because now and in the past there have been very few Mudcat members and guests who are from Africa and/or who are of African descent. That said, people can be interested in folksongs and folk cultures regardless of their own racial/ethnic backgrounds and nationality.

Weighing all of these considerations, I thought {and still think} that a thread with a general title and theme could/will be more easily found by title by Mudcat members as well as by persons searching for such information and examples using Google or other Internet search engines.

My hope was/is that a general thread on African songs would help awaken interest in the folksongs and the folk culture from the vast continent of Africa. I certainly do not want this thread to be seen as the be all and end all of threads on this subject on Mudcat.