Artists like Malouma

Mariem Mint Hassan was a Sahrawi singer and lyricist. She usually sang in Hassaniya, an Arabic variant spoken mostly in Western Sahara and Mauritania, occasionally singing in Saharan Spanish.

Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band established in 1970 as the house band of the Baobab Club in Dakar. Many of the band's original members had previously played with Star Band de Dakar in the 1960s. Directed by timbalero and vocalist Balla Sidibé, the group featured saxophonists Issa Cissoko and Thierno Koité, two singers, two guitarists and a rhythm section with drums, congas and bass guitar. Since their formation, the band has predominantly played a mix of son cubano, Wolof music, and to a lesser extent Mande musical traditions. Following the deaths of Cissoko in 2019 and Sidibé in 2020, Thierno Koité has become the leader of the band.

Souad Massi is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats. In 1999, Massi performed at the Femmes d'Algérie concert in Paris, which led to a recording contract with Island Records.

Baaba Maal is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.

Mohamed Khelifati, better known by his stage name Cheb Mami, is an Algerian raï musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and sometimes in Eastern Arabic dialects or in French. Internationally, he is known for contributing vocals to the 1999 Sting single "Desert Rose".

Nouhad Wadie Haddad, known professionally as Fairuz, is a Lebanese singer. She is widely considered an iconic vocalist and one of the most celebrated singers in the Arab world, as well as a symbol of modern Lebanon. She is popularly known as "The Bird of the East", "The Cedar of Lebanon", "The Moon's Neighbor", "The Voice of Lebanon", and "Our Ambassador to the Stars", among others.

Omer Faruk Tekbilek is a Turkish musician and composer who plays a wide range of wind, string, percussion, and electronic instruments. He has developed a style that builds on traditional Sufi music while incorporating inspiration from ambient electronic musicians, most notably Brian Keane. He is best known for his performances with the flute-like ney, but also plays the piccolo-like kaval, and the double-reed zurna. Among stringed instruments, he plays the oud and the bağlama.

Cesária Évora GCIH was a Cape Verdean singer known for singing morna, a genre of music from Cape Verde, in her native Cape Verdean Creole. Her songs were often devoted to themes of love, homesickness, nostalgia, and the history of the Cape Verdean people. She was known for performing barefoot and for her habit of smoking and drinking on stage during intermissions. Évora's music received many accolades, including a Grammy Award in 2004, and it has influenced many Cape Verde diaspora musicians as well as American pop singer Madonna. Évora is also known as Cize, the Barefoot Diva, and the Queen of Morna.

Mohamed Mounir is an Egyptian singer and actor, with a musical career spanning more than four decades. He incorporates various genres into his music, including classical Egyptian music, Nubian music, Blues, Jazz and Reggae. His lyrics are noted both for their philosophical content and for their passionate social and political commentary. He is affectionately known by his fans as "El King" in reference to his album and play "El Malek Howwa El Malek". Mounir's family is from Nubia, Southern Aswan, Egypt.