About Us

Bibiafrica offers music lovers a selection of African and African-influenced world music. Enjoy the amazing voice of one of Africa's greatest singers, Sona Diabate, the fine guitar work of Guinean artist Lenke Conde, the rhythmic grooves of world renowned djembé-master Famoudou Konate, the kora artistry of Jeli Moussa Sissoko, and the hypnotic strings of Malian n'goni-player Barry Sangare. The World Music Project, Argile, can also be found here featuring the work of well-known Guinean singer Djanka Diabate, as well as other musicians from the USA, Germany, Ghana, Mali and Guinea.

The Bibiafrica label is the independent music branch of the Schneeball record company (similar to the Exil label of Dissidenten record company, or the Efa and Indigo - the two most important independent distribution companies in Germany).

Started in 1974, Schneeball, which translates as snowball, is Germany's first independent world music or polit-rock record label. The name symbolizes the momentum gained when artistic expression is allowed to flourish, not unlike a snowball tumbling down a mountain.

Schneeball has played an important role in the evolution of German world music. Artists like Trilok Gurtu, Charlie Mariano, Karnataka College of Percussion, Yoruba Dun Dun, and Mal Waldron can all be found on the Schneeball label performing a range of music from original compositions and traditional music to world music. These artists' collaboration with German groups like Embryo, Dissidenten, Amon Düül, and Argile, to name just a few, illustrates Schneeballs' ongoing influence on the contemporary music scene in Germany. Othmar Schreckendeder, producer of most of Schneeball's most recent work, recently released a compilation of Schneeball's first twenty years in a recording called "Ein Komet ist ein schmutziger Schneeball". This two-CD collection of over two and a half hours of music takes listeners from post-Hitler Germany and the removal of the Berlin Wall to Germany's entrance into the European Union.

Bibiafrica continues Schneeball's exploration into diverse forms of musical expression.

One important quality that sets Bibiafrica apart from other record companies is the active role musicians play throughout the production process. It is an independent music company started and run by musicians. The founder of Bibiafrica, Dieter Weberpals, is an accomplished musician, composer, and band leader himself, who will have been immersed in African music since the 1980's. The artists recording on the Bibiafrica label are all longstanding members of the African music scene and have laughed, fought, and made music together for many years. Because of this long history of association and collaboration, the work of composing, arranging, and interpreting the music for recording is accomplished in a relaxed atmosphere no matter where it takes place - whether in a sound studio in Africa or in the German studio of partners Michael and Hendrik Ertel of audiolandscape-studio.

The music which was once derogatorily called negermusik", or nigger music, is finally gaining the respect and appreciation that it deserves. Every year there are more and more venues for exploring diverse styles of music, such as the world music trade fair, Womex, in Berlin, and Europe's largest African festival held yearly in Wurzburg, Germany. These events further the struggle against racism and intolerance ("Netz gegen Rechts"), and Bibiafrica plays its part by bringing musicians and listeners together in an ongoing effort to open minds, ears, and souls through music.