While most artists and songwriters feel to content to continue to develope their talents along the lines which already have made them quite successful, Paul Simon continued to experiment with his own music. Throughout the 1980s Paul experimented with more international rhythms. In 1985 Paul travelled to South Africa, a trip which made him fall in love with the sounds of the black ghettoes. Paul was going through a personal transformation that no one expected. While in South Africa he became quite found of a talented choir, "Ladysmith Black Mombazo".

His exploration of world music (non-Western music) resulted in Graceland in 1986. "What was distinct about Graceland was how neatly and emphatically it seemed to define some of these possibilities (the possibilities with non-Western music). There was nothing tentative and unsure about Graceland. From the first notes you knew it was already there. Paul had taken a musical idiom that was all around us, but in a somewhat slumbering form, and made a quantum leap, bringing us, with him, into a new "present"... Philip Glass - composer and friend." Paul enjoyed success with Graceland. The album sold well and it won "Album of the Year" honours at the "Grammy Awards" in 1987. In 1988 Simon released a collection of songs, Negotiations And Love Songs: 1971-1986.

Paul followed the success of Graceland with a number of concerts, featuring his South African band and "Ladysmith Black Mombaza". This gained attention to the songwriter, with the Apartheid at status quo in South Africa. Paul continued to explore the rhythms of the world, bringing him to Brazil. The inspiration from the rhythms of Brazil resulted in a new album in 1990, The Rhythm Of The Saints, after which he toured with a band consisting of a mixture of South African, Brazillian and American musicians. The tour ended with two monumental performances in 1991. A free concert in Central Park (ten years after the record-breaking Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert), a concert which attracted more than 750 000 Paul Simon fans, and an appearance on MTV unplugged.

The album from the Concert in Central Park was released late-91 and in 1993 The Paul Simon Anthology was released. "I wouldn't venture to guess where Paul will go from here. As before, he has allowed me a preview of upcoming projects which it is perhaps too soon to write about now. I think, though, it's safe to say that Paul has not come to the end of redefining and reinventing himself. It's hard work and surely it must be unsettling for him at times. But, happily for us who enjoy the fruits of his efforts, he seems to have a taste for< it...Philip Glass - composer and friend."