The Affia Band was formed in 2016 as a five-person band, with the initial line-up of Yusupha Ngum on lead vocals, Hiroki Finn Hoshino on double bass and bass guitar, Felix Billington Kleinman on drums, Stephen John Khlentzos on keyboards, and Adam Halliwell on electric guitar. Adam Halliwell left later that year, and was replaced by Solomon Sisay on saxophone. Sometimes guest musician Chris Maunders would join the band on stage on harmonica during live performances. In 2017, Solomon Sisay left and Paul Cornelius joined as the band's saxophonist. Also in 2017, Rodolfo "Panga" Hechavarria Despaigne joined as a sixth band member on congas. Stephen John Khlentzos later left the band to move overseas, and Daniel Mougerman joined the band on keyboards. 2017 was also the year that the band started to gain significant public attention. After their performance at the Healesville Music Festival, a newspaper reporter asked Festival chair Bob Willis to name some bands with "stand out performances". Yusupha Ngum and the Affia Band was one of the three bands Willis named as ones "that really pulled the crowds". In 2018, the band recorded their original song Gaïndé to celebrate the Senegal team's qualification in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The title of the song means "The Lion" in the West AfricanWolof language. In addition to the regular band members, guest musicians Luke Koszański joined them on electric guitar, and Boubacar Gaye performed on djembe to record the single and music video. The single was mixed by Niko Schäuble of Pughouse Studios, and the music video was filmed and directed by Jeff Valledor of Jeffrowz Video Production. The single and music video were executive produced by Melbournemusic venue entrepreneur Ousmane Ngom. The song received significant public and media attention in Gambia and Senegal, and was also covered in the Australian media. Later in 2018, Daniel Mougerman left and joined funk band The Bamboos, and Matt Steele subsequently joined the Affia Band on keyboards. In 2019 at the Castlemaine Jazz Festival, the band line-up consisted of Yusupha Ngum, Hiroki Finn Hoshino, Paul Cornelius, Matt Steele, Felix Billington Kleinman, and Rodolfo "Panga" Hechavarria Despaigne. Angus Radley filled in for Hiroki Finn Hoshino for one of the festival performances, on bass guitar. The Midland Express newspaper highlighted the band in their reporting on the upcoming 2019 Castlemaine Jazz Festival. A magazine article after the festival reported Yusupha's comments on how "he is passionate about the unifying and cultural storytelling power of music", and how he "paid a moving tribute to African youth and the problems they are facing, dedicating his song to their plight". In their live performances, guest musician Luke Koszański has sometimes joined the band on stage on electric guitar, and Huich Goh sometimes on violin.
