Alou Sangaré – Buranké album

Alou’s a discreet guy, but his voice does not go unnoticed. One of the leading singers at home in Mali, he is still vidtually unknown anywhere else. He owes his strong heritage in part from his father, Madou Guitare, member of the influential Orchestre Regional de Sikasso, who’s music is featured on Syllart’s AMAZING Mali 70 compilation. But Alou stands up for his own, using electric and western instruments to arrange his typically Malian music. Stuff to make you, your mom and your grandparents dance! Comes out April 21 on iTunes.

02/03 US: Move it Chaleh! iTunes Release


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D.J. Menza - Move It Chaleh!

Move it Chaleh! Words you might hear at an outdoor chop bar in Accra, Ghana, a calling for you to get up and shake it. A hint to the pungent grooves blasting out of subwoofers and beat up sound systems throughout West Africa today.

Smaller, cheaper studios are sprouting all over big African cities, allowing a new generation of artists to create and push the envelope of urban and dance music. In particular, Move It Chaleh! focuses on two underrated African trends:
Coupé décalé is the upbeat sound of Côte d’Ivoire today, a dance craze which can be heard throughout francophone Africa. It has roots in both Congolese soukous and Ivorian zouglou. It emerged at the height of the Ivorian crisis around 2002-2003, first in Paris, but it quickly spread to Ivory Coast, to Africa and now to the world.


Hiplife is a Ghanaian mish mash of hip hop, dancehall, calypso and other Caribbean styles, with highlife, itself a mix of soul and funk with more traditional Ghanaian rhythms. It has taken Ghana by storm, and it is well known to Ghanaian abroad, particularly in the US and UK, yet it is still off the radar for most.

Time to change that. Move it chaleh!