Late October, Pushking Noize came down to Accra to enjoy some time off in the sunshine, and record a few songs with Arc Djébé. Then in September, while he was editing the music back in Zurich, we headed over to Lomé to film Arc performing some of the songs we recorded. This is the first video pieced together by fellow Swiss homie Tillup. Our goal is to turn this video into live shows for Arc all over the world. Wanna be part of this adventure? Holla!

Next week we head to Copenhagen to schmooze with thousands at the World Music Expo. Among many, we’ll finally connect with the fine people over at Urban World Records, who’ve invited bbrave to take part at their off-womex tropical party. Here’s a live mix recorded just recently by Urban World’s Mikael Palner, for the 40th anniversary of Christiania, the famed freetown/commune neighborhood of Copenhagen:

Palner – Christianias 40th Birthday LiveDJMix by UrbanWorld Records

One of the reasons why Akwaaba decided to relocate to Ghana was actually to be closer to Liberia. A country we seldom hear about for its music. But last year we were introduced to Liberian music at the Buduburam Refugee Camp just west of Accra, where Shadow and a large crew of artists have been keeping their LIB music fresh and lively.
Fast forward to this year: over the summer our longtime friend and African dance music expert Chief Boima spent some time in Monrovia, where he identified key artists. After meeting briefly in Accra, he invited our own Benjamin Lebrave to fly to Monrovia, for the two to put together a sample of the exciting sounds of Liberia today.

Hipco is hip hop sung in colloquial English, the form of English you hear on the streets of Liberia. Although colloquial English retains a lot of English syntax, it can be a bit daunting at first because it is spoken very fast, many consonants are not pronounced, and a lot of words are borrowed from other local languages. But it has become the language of choice for young rappers. And much like hip hop, hipco has grown into its own culture, with its own lifestyle, dance moves and music. Today hipco often refers to more than just a type of rap, it’s a way of life.

Gbema is the generic term given to electronically-produced traditional music. So it covers a wide range of rhythms, most of them very high paced, reminiscent of Sierra Leonian Bubu or South African Shangaan. It’s also quite common for the rhythms to jump into half or double time..

This music, hipco and gbema, is having a profound impact on Liberia. Much like early day hip hop, hipco is a significant vector of social change, while gbema’s intricate rhythms are relentlessly challenging listeners and dancers. We called the compilation Lone Stars not only because it is the nickname of Liberia, but also because these artists are often left without much of an industry to survive. They are truly alone, with their music, striving to survive in a country still recovering from decades of destructive conflict.

Album is out today in iTunes and Bandcamp, and next week at other major retailers such as Amazon.

Junior Freeman & African Soldier – “Damyarea” (area song) by Akwaaba Music

Today Liberians vote for their next president. Just four days after the Nobel Foundation decided to let the world – and in particular Liberians – know how much they like Ma Ellen. We prefer sharing with the world a song that has been the soundtrack of an entire summer in Liberia – although summer there is the rainy season, which feels much more like winter. But meteorology aside, the “area song” has been an unavoidable sonic leitmotiv in all corners of Liberia. And we feel today’s a pretty OK day to share it: it’s also a sneak peak for our hipco and gbema compilation coming out… next week!!!!

Another mandatory listen courtesy of our dood DJ Zhao. Download it here. As stated by Leo himself:

The drum comes from Africa, and also techno. Here is an extremely simplified version of the lineage: slave songs – blues – gospel – jazz – funk – disco – house – techno —- the circle is complete. After all, the 4 on the floor hypnotic groove can be found in the myriad styles of African music from every era. House and techno grew up in the northern hemisphere, acquiring a character a bit removed from the rich rhythmic traditions of the mother continent. But in recent decades electronic dance music has been developing in Africa, and a new wave of club music is blossoming and flourishing.

History was made in 2008 with Warp Records’ release of DJ Mujava’s Township Funk in Europe, and the world is slowly coming to grips with the awesome power of African electronic music. Motherland house and techno is spreading far and wide, forming the rhythmic basis for urban bass music in the UK and elsewhere: Africanized Killer Beats on the swarm!

Via Benjamin Lebrave‘s Lungu Lungu column over at Fader Mag:

I’ve been neck deep into Angolan house. I recently discovered a never ending thread of good afro-house coming from Angola on Soundcloud. So I quickly put my rusty Portuguese to use and connected with a slew of cats making these beats. After a few weeks of nerding out I’m now getting a better feel for what seems to be much more than a Soundcloud blog-house microtrend. In fact I’m told this sound is taking over clubs in Luanda. A few days ago I had a chance to chat with DJ Delany Duvall of Luanda, who schooled me on this recent Angolan house bidniss.

Most readers are aware of Cabo Snoop, whose sound has seriously shifted the music scene in Angola. His producer IVM Beatz (who unfortunately passed last February) has been instrumental in pushing a more polished, house-y sound. Along with Cabo, producers such as DJ Djeff have been on heavy rotation at major Angolan nightclubs, pushing straight-up Angolan-flavored afro-house. I remember when I went to clubs in Luanda in 2009 I heard Angolan music (semba, kizomba and kuduro), Francophone music (ndombolo, zouk), some US-style hip-hop and R&B, and that was pretty much it. It seemed diverse to me, but I also realized the boundaries of these genres were never crossed. Playing some Black Coffee or Culoe de Song seemed unthinkable. But only two years later, I stumble upon dozens of afro-house artists, who are not just on Soundcloud: they are actually playing and getting played in Angola!

How did this shift happen? DJ Delany’s story is quite insightful. Like many high school kids in Luanda, Delany started messing around with Fruity Loops. The software is hardly avoidable in Angola, where it has allowed beatmakers to create pretty much any kuduro song you can think of. During his first years playing around with Fruity Loops, Delany was mainly making semba and kuduro-inspired beats. The shifting point for him was moving to Namibia in 2008. Like many middle and upper class Angolan teen-agers, Delany left the country to attend university. And like many Angolans studying in Windhoek, Jozi or Durban, Delany caught the South African house bug.

What’s interesting to me here is that like many other young Angolan afro-house producers, Delany keeps a distinctly Angolan feel in his beats. This is probably what is allowing him, DJ Djeff and the like to take over Angolan nightclubs: they are not just playing or making afro-house, they are creating Angolan house. The difference might be subtle for most of us, but for someone raised on semba and kuduro, it’s huge.

To further showcase how Angolans like to keep things Angolan, and how doing so with music only makes things better, I picked a Kanye West bootleg remix. I live in my African music bubble, and had never heard the original song. So I rediscovered Kanye through Delany, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe some day Delany or one of his peers will replace A-Trak as Kanye’s DJ… unless A-Trak starts DJing for the next Cabo? Or maybe the next A-Trak AND the next Kanye are both Angolan? Best to embrace this stuff now, it’s going to happen!

Power (DJ Delany Duvall Remix) – K.West by Dj Delany

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: