The Mongolian metal band The Hu fuse tradition instruments with metal styling and a badass attitude that Genghis would approve of

Also their name is great.

Brazil isn't an obscure country, but there's an indigenous band called Uakti that builds their own instruments. It's some of the most unusual music I've heard. They also have some classical albums, and one by Phillip Glass that I like to listen to when I'm coming down from a trip.

I'm a big fan of Tinariwen who are from Mali

Also: Toe from Japan

Also also: yin yin from the Netherlands

And in a similar vein: l'eclair from Switzerland

Also tbh, if you want a great selection of eclectic artists from all over the world, look up a playlist of artists playing on the West Holts stage of Glastonbury for any given year—when I'm at the festival it's always my go to stage if I'm feeling like trying something new and it's rarely disappointed me

Al-Namrood (Metal, Saudi-Arabia)

Mdou Mactar (Desert Blues)

Leliță Săftiță (Aromanian folk song)

Hrdza (Folk Rock, Slovakia)

Kamo Mphela (Amapiano, South Africa)

There’s an awesome Afrobeat collection called Nigeria: The Definitive Story of 1970’s Funky Lagos. I don’t know if it’s streaming but it’s a good next step.

This is a way more chill recommendation but I love Mayra Andrade from Cape Verde for music to relax to.

From the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic: Týr - Regin Smiður

They are very famous but it seems their country is rarely thought or discussed.

The Hu from Mongolia are great. A combination of traditional Mongol folk music, modern metal and famous for their Mongolian style gutteral singing.

O-Zone (of "Numa Numa" fame) is from Moldova; that's pretty obscure, right?

Ylvis ("What Does the Fox Say?") is Norwegian.

"Epic Sax Guy" is... also Moldovan, apparently. Huh.

Kenya: Just a Band. Funky, rocky at times, just great music.

Iran: not a band, but a movie representation of the scene. No One Knows About Persian Cats. I have a personal connection to this movie; if you watch it, let me know and I'll fill you in (not publicly though, you'll understand why).

Cambodia: Reign in Slumber. Metal. Changed singers (new one is from the Philippines), still great.

Vietnam: Cut Lon. Metal. Used to dress in hilarious Pikachu balaclavas. Fun, loud, entertaining.

Belarus: Molchat Doma. Gloomy. Oppressive. Wonderful. Makes me think of the Soviet Union in the 70s (not that I was there or alive then).

Alan Stivell does some incredible fusion of rock and Celtic folk. i usually avoid the term "Celtic" for music because some people find it dismissive to lump multiple musical traditions together like that, but he very deliberately draws from most (all?) of the musical traditions that would fall under that umbrella. i highly recommend the E Dulenn and Á L'Olympia live albums

May be Maximum the Hormone. They're probably pretty big in Japan though.

If you're into metal, here are a few bands renowned for mixing cultural music with heavy metal off the top of my head:

Norway - Ulver (They have possibly the most varied discography in all of music, but their first album is a mix of black metal and Norwegian folk music, and their second is entirely Norwegian folk music)

Brazil - Sepultura (From Arise to Roots they started incorporating a lot of Brazilian musical ideas)

Romania - Negura Bunget (They're the only reason I know what a nai is)

May I have the honor of introducing you to African Rhumba: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O3BexfHBTIg

That is a favorite one. The album is by two of the greatest in African music: Franco Luambo (of TPOK Jazz) and Tabu Ley (of Afrisa International). They did this album to cool down rumours that they were fighting and don’t see eye to eye. They called it Lisanga ya Banganga (Congress of the Wizards).

This specific song I share is solemn, as they are mourning the death of their mentor, Kabaselle.

Check their respective Wikipedia entries. It is a whole new world you are peeking into.

Ever seen or listened to 1 Giant Leap?

Also:

Hedningarna

Bersuit Vergarabat

Petter

Mulatu Astatke

You can find lots more in my playlist library.

A group called Otyken. They are a Siberian/Russian folk music group

Traditional Argentinian music: Soledad or Los Chalchaleros

Traditional Brazilian music: Chico Buarque or Caetano Veloso

Traditional Brazilian music from the northeast: Luiz Gonzaga

Argentinian Rock from the 60/70: Sui Generis or Pedro y Pablo

Brazilian Rock from the 60/70: Cazuza or Raul Seixas

Argentinian contemporary music: Bersuit Vergarabat

Contemporary Brazilian Rock (there are tons of metal bands from Brazil, like Angra, Sepultura, Shaman, etc, but I want to point out one in specific): Matanza (although I would describe them more as a hardcore us country style than rock, they sing mostly in Portuguese so it has a very unique style)

Comedy music is a great view into a society, so as a bonus:

Argentinian homemade instrument band: Les Luthiers (this one is a YouTube link because realistically you want to see these guys, not just hear them)

Brazilian Metal joke band: Massacration

Spotify suggested a bedtime playlist with Elin and the Lullaby Orchestra. They are from Norway. Their albums will put your kids to sleep, but It Came from the Universe to my Landing Pad slaps. That song legitimately deserves a hair metal/glam rock cover.

Altyn Tuu. Technically they're located in Russia, but belong to the Altai ethnic group, so I'm counting them.

I'm a fan of Bomba Estereo, from Colombia. They are sort of in the Electro Cumbia genre. Systema Solar is another of that type. I like their more up-tempo songs, they do have slower, pop-ballad type songs too.

NZ - Supergroove, Che Fu, DD Smash, Dragon, Darcy Clay, Trinity Roots, Salmonella Dub, Katchafire - the NZ dub and roots scene should be checked out by anyone who likes roots. Ignore six sixty.

Germany - Colour Haze

Nick Drake - more people should listen to this guy.

Soda Stereo from Argentina, and Monsieur Periné from Colombia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadril
Belgian folk group

Specifically: https://www.discogs.com/release/6421340-Kadril-La-Paloma-Negra
made with the band Alumea.

Review: https://www.rootsworld.com/reviews/kadril-alumea.shtml

This two-disc set is a studio version of a concert program produced jointly by Galician family combo Alumea and Flemish folk-rock band Kadril, inspired by Flemish pilgrims in Galicia. The results are peculiar but satisfying.

I wish I could find the KCRW episode about this album. That’s (I think) how I heard about it.

Serbia - Destiny Potato. Prog metal, and their album "Lun" is among my favorites of all time. They changed name to Sordid Pink and released another pretty cool album.

David Maxim Micic is the guitarist, and he has a pretty great solo discography on his own.

Highasakite - Norway

Some latam-based ones

• Uruguay - El cuarteto de nos. Rock/indie rock but sometimes they mix in Latin American sounds as well (check out the song Mario Neta).
• Paraguay - Kchiporros, Bohemia Urbana. Ska and Paraguayan rock.
• Mexico's Yucatan - Pat Boy. Rap in Mayan and sometimes Spanish. Does collabs with other singers of indigenous languages.

Tudi-Voice, Taiwan - Taiwanese modern folk stuff.

Florent Vollant, Canada - interesting indigenous culture based music.

Mulatu Astatke, Ethiopia - Jazz from the 60s and 70s.

Altın Gün, Türkiye/The Netherlands - modern Anatolian psych sounds.

Gwenno, Wales - Gaelic folktronica.

Great thread this, loads to check out.

I'll recommend Songhoy Blues from Mali, and Gaspar Nali of Malawi, both excellent.

Ariesta Birawa Group

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sOyqwivH9NE

I’m trying to figure out if you have a misplaced modifier with “obscure, lesser known”. You have it modifying “country” in the title. In other words, you want musicians of any level of renown who come from a lesser known country.

However, you mention Fela Kuti, who is from Nigeria, which is not a lesser known country. You would have to be very ignorant of basic world geography to not have heard of Nigeria.

And, as usual, commenters are completely ignoring your criteria by mentioning musicians from Germany and New Zealand and Columbia and Vietnam.

So perhaps you meant obscure musicians instead of obscure countries, but that would still leave me wondering what subset of countries you intended? Just countries other than your own? But if so, I don’t know what country you are in.