Music of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone's music is a mixture of native, French, British, West Indian and Creole musical genres.

Palm wine music is representative, played by an acoustic guitar with percussion in countries throughout coastal West Africa.

Sierra Leone, like much of West Africa is open to Rap, Reggae, Dancehall, R&B, and Grime (music).

The national anthem of Sierra Leone, "High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free", was composed by John Akar with lyrics by Clifford Nelson Fyle and arrangement by Logie E. K. Wright. It was adopted upon independence in 1961.

The largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone (2009) is that of the Mel-speaking Temne people, 35% of the population. Next, at 31%, the Mande, along with 2% Mandingo, have music traditions related to Mande populations in neighbouring countries. Other recorded populations were the Limba ( 8%), the Kono (5%), the Loko (2%) and the Sierra Leone Creole people (2%), while 15% were recorded as "others".

The wars and civil conflict throughout West Africa, have resulted in a decrease in the presence of traditional music artists.

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