IIRC from a book I read on the blues, banjos had some early traction in and were introduced by blues music because they were indeed derived from West African in

IIRC from a book I read on the blues, banjos had some early traction in and were introduced by blues music because they were indeed derived from West African instruments (built around gourds, complete with one shorter string like a banjo has) but the updated, new-world construction of the modern banjo (twangy, poor sustain) was better-suited to accompanying higher-pitched white voices, so ended up falling out of favor in the blues about the same time it was becoming standard in genres like bluegrass.