West African musical influences can be found throughout the rest of Africa and across the globe. These influences can be found throughout various genres of music, including jazz, blues, and electronic music. A modern example I discovered that demonstrates West African musical styles was M83’s Midnight City, an electronic song. Firstly, and prominently featured throughout the song is the synth pattern, or ostinato that is repeated through a large majority of the song. It is a simple four note synth rhythm, but it is remains present while the chords change, and the ostinato does not interfere with the changing chords, but allows and encourages the chord changes. The ostinato is also present during the saxophone solo at the end of the song.
