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About
Mission and History
Our Mission
In West Africa, the Djembe drum is used to bring people together for many purposes: to communicate, celebrate and motivate.
The Djembe, a cultural lineage that goes back hundreds of year, is for all humanity to experience. Through the Djembe, expression, mindfulness, and joy are cultivated.
Our mission is to provide the highest quality West African instruments, performances, instruction, and educational materials. We believe that the way to break down barriers of race and class is through the education of music and dance, environmental awareness, paying higher wages, and support sustainable incomes in Guinea as well as the USA.
Our History
Before 1950, the djembe was virtually unknown outside of Africa. Guinea’s first president after independence, Sékou Touré, sought to promote the rich musical culture of Guinea by funding international tours and rehearsal facilities for Guinea’s premier performance group,Les Ballet Africains. This group and other subsequent groups have put the djembe and its music and dance onto the world stage.
As popular as the djembe was, it was hard to find authentic, high-quality wooden drums that were durable, beautiful, and sounded great. Wula Drum was founded in 2006 and has become the industry leader in high-quality West African percussion. We take pride in creating durable, beautiful, and great sounding instruments. We work with a team of salaried artists in Guinea, West Africa to continually innovate the form and structure of the djembe.
The name “Wula” was chosen by our artistic director, M’Bemba Bangoura. It is a word in the Susu language, meaning “deep inside the forest” - where we venture to find the best wood for making drums.
M'Bemba and other great performers deserve the highest quality instruments, and Wula Drum provides instruments for some of West Africa’s most influential percussionists. We are driven by a passion for empowering West African drum makers and performing artists to enjoy successful careers, and to continue the legacy of the djembe around the world for the sake of peace, celebration, and harmony of all life.
Drum! Magazine
Read more about our
Mission and History in this
Drum! Magazine article about Wula Drum