Launched in 1976, África Brasil is Jorge Ben’s most emblematic and acclaimed album. An electrifying fusion of Brazilian sounds, hypnotic Afrobeat and American soul funk, it celebrates Black identity and Afro-Brazilian consciousness. Inspired by a trip to Ethiopia, his mother’s country of origin, Ben recounts the saga of black heroes long ignored in history books, such as the torrid Xica da Silva, first a slave then a woman of power after becoming, in the 18th century, the concubine of João Fernandes, a wealthy dignitary of the…
