I met with Alou Sangaré yesterday, we had a chat at a bar close to where I’m staying, by the route de Koulikoro. He’s a native of Koutiala, east of Bamako near the Burkinabé border. He is the son of Madou Guitare, an influential member of several 70s Malian orchestras. Alou has been recording music for 12 years, fusing traditional melodies with modernized arrangements, appealing to young Malians while carrying on his father’s legacy.
Today I heard him playing live here in Bamako at a place called the Parc des Princes. The show was great, full of energy, Alou had everyone dancing! Quite a departure from the stereotypical Malian music concert in Europe or the US, where for the most part people sit down the entire time!
Sira is one of the very first songs I heard when I arrived in Dakar, and it’s still one of my absolute favorites. It is the story of a griot friend of Rahmane’s, who falls in love with this girl, Sira, who comes from a noble family. Her family initially refuses to let the griot take her hand because of the social difference between them, but eventually love prevails. Rahmane wrote this song on the fly, right as his friend shared his grief with him in the studio!
Quophi has agreed to work with Akwaaba to further spread his music around the world. He also mentioned Akwaaba to his longtime partner Okyeame Kwame, with whom they record under the name Akyeame. He also hooked up Bradaz, Kwame’s new hiplife proteges, who’s song One Gallon was a huge hit in Ghana.
Ghana was once known as the Gold Coast, and it’s still full of sonic nuggets, many of which were shared with Akwaaba this week! I’ve been on a journey for a few days now with ABK and Prof, they’ve taken me all over Accra to meet with artists and producers in their homes and studios. Last night after I got back to my hotel, I started playing a stack of CDs with great tracks by local hiplife artists such as Dogo, Rabbi, Ntakra, Nana Nkramea, Papa Rasta… the list goes on. I met most of these artists directly, ABK hooked up the others, whom I still hope to meet before I leave if they are to work with Akwaaba.
It’s almost my last night here in Accra, and my local contact ABK is taking me to Osu to witness some bigger scale chop bar dancing action. I’ve been enjoying my nightly stops at Strawberry, right by my hotel in Adabraka. Strawberry is a small outdoor bar serving all the basics to survive a hot muggy night. They blast all the hiplife hits throught their tummy shakin’ subwoofers, and they serve grilled plantains and cold drinks, it’s perfect! I wish I had a night time picture, but that’ll have to wait til the next trip!
Strawberry by day… a sidewalk chop bar in Adabraka (Accra, Ghana)
