You know Just A Band, but have you heard of Nonini? If you haven’t, clearly you are not Kenyan. This guy practically created genge, Nairobi’s own take on hip hop. He teamed up with the Band to redo their hit song Ha-He… video is coming soon, stay chooned!

You may know about the Lungu Lungu column Akwaaba boss dude Benjamin Lebrave has been writing for Fader magazine. Well it seems cats are taking notice, as two of the songs featured in the column landed in NPR’s Top 100 songs of 2011! “Me Dough” by Kay-Ara featuring Yaa Pono and Lil’ Shaker, and Lungu Lungu by the FOKN Bois. Read the stories and grab the tunes here:

FOKN Bois, “Lungulungu” by The FADER

Kay-Ara f. Lil Shaker and Yaa Pono, “Me Dough” by The FADER

It’s here!!! The Band has been keeping the next video on the hush hush…. but here it is, visual goodness from our favorite Kenyan Super Nerdy Boys Band. Album available in iTunes, Beatport, Amazon, Bandcamp, eMusic…. you name it!

It’s been a busy year so far for Ghana’s most scandalous Afro-pop duo known as the FOKN Bois. Aside from almost causing a war between Nigeria and Ghana, touring Europe, USA and releasing the world’s first Pidgen Musical, they also managed to record an 8-track EP The FOKN Dunaquest in Budapest with ELO of Irie Maffia Production, Hungary’s leading musical force, and released it on yours truly. 

The story has just begun… After the success of the original EP, a 10-track remix album by the finest Hungarian and international Global Bass producers is here. Remixes from Hungary’s own Slap In The Bass, Nobody Moves, Superstereo, URH and Jumo Daddy (Irie Maffia), as well as Frikstailers, Hijo De La Cumbia, Dj Vadim, Flore and Big Dope P from the international scene. Moobahton, dubstep, cumbia, bassline to uk funky all in one solid album. 

Now for the best part…as the producer ELO celebrates his 30th birthday this weekend he has decided to make the album a FREE DOWNLOAD for one month! 

Grab your free copy of The FOKN Dunaquest in Budapest Remix Album! Feedback is much appreciated!

We have a few things to celebrate here. First of all, let’s welcome South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, which comes into existence this Saturday July 9. Please do yourself a favor and indulge into spending a few minutes on South Sudan’s Wikipedia page. In most people’s minds, Sudan rhymes with… dead bodies? Darfur conflict? Telecom giant? Musical hotbed, not so much. So let’s celebrate Sudan, AGAIN, as this little release helps to open a sliver of a door onto the abundantly rich Sudanese culture.

Now, before purists get out of hand, let’s just say it: this is a highly stylized version of Sudanese folklore, one that has been mashed up by excellent sound magicians. First up, we’ve got Neo Project #2, a mysterious new alias for the almighty Tyler Pope, of !!!, LCD Soundsystem, Hercules & Love Affair and Out Hud fame. Who knew: Tyler’s been messing around with West African sounds, so he hit it off when he met Wahib Soumade of M.I.C.T. (Media in Cooperation and Transition) in Berlin, the dood also responsible for the massive 2 first volumes of the Sudan Votes Music Hopes (SVMH) series. The first one on Innervisions featured remixes of Emmanuel Jal by Henrik Schwarz and The Knife‘s Olof Dreijer. If you spent more than 3 minutes in Berlin last year you probably heard both. If you didn’t, well, you wish you had. The second one is also a raw morsel of radness, with a wild remix by Dal-Gren and Kirikoo Des. Take a deep breath:

Back to the release on hand. Tyler teams up with Alsarah, a Khartoum-born artist now based in Brooklyn, after having spent time in places such as Yemen, widening her deep knowledge of East African and Middle Eastern traditional music. Today she sings and writes, and is due to release an album of Zanzibar-style taarab later this year. So do stay tuned.

The B-side features one of Sudan’s heavyweights, Yousif Elmosley, a gentleman who started out singing as he watched over his herd of sheep on the banks of the Nile as a teenager. We won’t give you his full bio, it has already been well written right here. Yousif gets the Berliner house treatment courtesy of producer/DJ Edward, a regular figure on the Berlin circuit. And last but certainly not least, the amazing cover is by Parisian designer Paul Hamy, who had already worked with SVMH on the previous EP.

So done, you got your feet wet! Feels warm doesn’t it?

In case you missed the first installment of our new Lungu Lungu column over at Fader Mag, here’s the second piece, this time about one of our current favorites down here in Ghana, Shadow, the one man operation that is literally lifting the entire Buduburam Liberia Refugee Camp, and bringing Liberia’s sounds to Ghanaians, and now to you, worldwide! Grab his sick gbema track “Killing Me”: gbema is a traditional rhythm, which Shadow has successfully carried into the Fruity Loop age. Think Shangaan electro, but this time a weeee bit more musical. Shadow you are the MAN!!!!

And in case you miss it, the first freebie we shared with Fader, a lil’ sumfin from the FOKN Bois, which gave its name to the column:

A choice cut from Coz Ov Moni. Sink in chale.

A few minutes with Wanlov the Kubolor, half of the FOKN Bois. He and M3nsa connected with the Irie Maffia in Budapest, giving birth to some infectious, futuristic Afropop. Akwaaba, chaleh, welcome 2 d future.

Via our new Lungu Lungu column over at The Fader:

Apparently the end of the world has been either canceled or delayed. The reason is pretty clear to me: FOKN Bois just released their latest album, The FOKN DunaQuest in Budapest, and it needs a bit of space before we can all proceed with the end of times. Surely it will happen—on Ghana time.

The FOKN Bois, aka Wanlov the Kubolor and M3nsa, are not your average Ghanaian rappers. They reside far from the shady world of payola and corporate sponsorships that seriously limits the recognition of creative artists in Ghana. The Bois are closer to the streets, as exemplified in their amazingly fresh Coz Ov Moni pidgin English musical. They’re no payola policy means they’re not the most played artists on Ghana’s radio stations. However, after spending about 5 seconds on the streets of Accra with Wanlov, it’s pretty clear he is incredibly popular, a genuine artist recognized by people from all walks of life.

But forget Ghana for a second. Their latest collaboration with Hungary’s Irie Maffia can hardly be pigeon-holed as “Ghana music”—whatever that may mean, anyway. Instead of paraphrasing the story of how the album came to be, I’ll let Wanlov tell it. Check the video, below, to find out how these dudes ended up in Budapest, and better understand the double meaning of lungu lungu, a phrase that alludes to zigzagging through back streets, and also, corruption.

Speaking of Lungu Lungu, here’s the song, free download: