African music is as diverse as its cultures and peoples and has flowered in many indigenous forms as well as been shaped by foreign influences. Although there are many different varieties of music in Africa, there are a number of common elements to the music, especially within regions.

Music and dance are an integral part of the African culture. They used to and still provide a valuable way to communicate with workers in the fields or pass messages to other villages. The music can vary hugely throughout Africa but has similar purposes, eg for storytelling, welcoming heroes, and religious ceremonies.

African American music cannot be separated from the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the forced transportation of millions of African people across the Atlantic who were then enslaved. The cultures from which they were torn and the conditions into which they were forced both contributed to the sounds of African American music.