Launched in 1976, Africa Brazil is Jorge Ben’s most iconic and acclaimed album in his discography. An electrifying fusion of Brazilian sounds, hypnotic Afrobeat and American soul funk, it celebrates black identity and Afro-Brazilian consciousness. Inspired by a recent trip to Ethiopia, his mother’s country of origin, Ben recounts the epic tale of these black heroes long sidelined in history books, such as the torrid Xica da Silva, first a slave then woman of power after becoming, in the 18th century, the concubine of…
