We won’t call this one a remix contest, instead we want to shift towards a permanent musical lab: we will regularly post stems, vocals, instrumental parts, drum loops, for you to work with. All creative commons, you can do anything you like with it, as long as it’s not commercial. If you do have commercial endeavors, then contact us and let’s work it out. If it sounds good we’ll probably want to release it!
If you’re not familiar with Maskarado, check him out here and here. We are sharing his acapella, which you can download right here. BPM is 125, go crazy!
One of my favorite beatmakers, ELO from Irie Maffia, of DunaQuest fame, was in Accra earlier this year. We hung out on a number of occasions, even DJed together at Heavy Warm Up with DJ SanSe. Back then he had told me about some of the stuff he recorded, but until recently, I hadn’t heard this gem of a track. Yaa Pono is one of the dopest twi rappers, coming out of the Uptown Energy / Pidgen Music camp. To download the song, like the ELO page!
Delany Duvall is an Angolan cat I’ve been following for a minute. He caught my attention a year ago with his cover of Kanye’s song Power, which I wrote about for Fader. Since then, I’ve seen an incessant flow of remixes and bootlegs, and have been dying to release something with him. At last… an official release of unofficial remixes!
My level is the biggest song from Shatta Wale this year. Its a street anthem and its currently enjoying radio and club plays all over the country. On My Level, Shatta Wale talks about how far he is come in this industry. Starting of as Bandana , going on a hiatus and...
DJ Pizaro: This week we have La vie là-bas by Togolese act Toofan , Fakye by Highlife act Bisa K'dei, sultry Nana Yaa drops a new one called Woman Power , Dancehall Queen Mzvee features Kuami Eugene on Bend Down and Ruff Town Records new signee Wendy Shay...
This is one of the biggest Afrobeats song on the african continent today. The song has an afrohouse vibe to it and you cant help but " Shaku Shaku " when you hear it. There's an interesting story behind this hit song and that is why we feature it on Lala Shishi this...
Delany Duvall: Light Work EP (free!)
Delany Duvall is an Angolan cat I’ve been following for a minute. He caught my attention a year ago with his cover of Kanye’s song Power, which I wrote about for Fader. Since then, I’ve seen an incessant flow of remixes and bootlegs, and have been dying to release something with him. At last… an official release of unofficial remixes!
My level is the biggest song from Shatta Wale this year. Its a street anthem and its currently enjoying radio and club plays all over the country. On My Level, Shatta Wale talks about how far he is come in this industry. Starting of as Bandana , going on a hiatus and...
DJ Pizaro: This week we have La vie là-bas by Togolese act Toofan , Fakye by Highlife act Bisa K'dei, sultry Nana Yaa drops a new one called Woman Power , Dancehall Queen Mzvee features Kuami Eugene on Bend Down and Ruff Town Records new signee Wendy Shay...
This is one of the biggest Afrobeats song on the african continent today. The song has an afrohouse vibe to it and you cant help but " Shaku Shaku " when you hear it. There's an interesting story behind this hit song and that is why we feature it on Lala Shishi this...
Maskarado is a familiar name for anybody paying attention to Angolan house and kuduro. He’s the go-to MC for many of the best crossover kuduro-house tracks out there – starting with the massive Angolan hit Elegom Bounsa, produced by DJ Djeff, unavoidable Angolan afrohouse artist whom we had the pleasure of releasing a couple of years ago. Monami is only the latest in a string of Luandan hits propelling Maskardo to the helm of Angolan music. Monami pay attention.
DJ Satelite is back on the horizon. If you haven’t checked his first Luanda No Horizonte mix, do yourself a favor and click here. Here is a second mix recorded live in Luanda, Angola, giving you a taste of what you might hear down there in the clubs.
1 – Teka Munike – Revolution ft Ruby Gold
2 – Mazorra Master – Dj Silyvi ft Mamukeno
3 – Respect (Efimaneko) – Cox
4 – La Vida – Micasa
5 – I’m so in love – Cox | Uncle
6 – Set Me Free – Black Motion & Dj QT ft Xoli
7 – Afro love – DJ Jesus feat Mily
8 – Kindred Spirit Ensemble – Shinning Liberation (Rancido & Rob Manga’s AfricanSoul Mix)
9 – Soldier Ascension – Djeff Afrozilla
10 – Nofesa ndinga Djeff – Sereno
11 – The Thing About Deep – Agev Munsen ft Roland Clark (Boddhi Satva Teknik Mix)
12 – DJ Cesar, Renato Xtrova – Summer Beat ft Irina (Original Mix)
13 – Ponto de Luz (Afro Mix) Sara Tavares (Motion House & DJ Tocarvalho Remix)
14 – Sexy – DJ Jesus
15 – Piluka (Radio Edit) – Djeff feat. Gari Sinedima
Originally published in the Lungu Lungu column for Fader magazine.
Living in Ghana, I am constantly bombarded with references to azonto, the dance craze which has taken over the country in the last year. If it’s not kids spontaneously busting out azonto moves on the street, it’s a grocery bag printed with a pattern made of azonto dancers. But a mere 120 miles away, in neighboring Togo, a very different dance craze has also taken hold. Cool catché may not be getting quite the online buzz that azonto has been generating, but it is just as unavoidable in Lomé as azonto is in Accra.
The cool catché’s pace is set by hit songs by groups such as Toofan. When I first heard their music, I thought they sounded like an Ivorian coupé décalé group, and I was quick to dismiss them, thinking they probably would never make it anywhere outside of Togo, since they are just imitating what others are already doing—a lot—in other countries. I was wrong. I was only listening to the music, and not paying attention to the dance. Toofan completely embraced cool catché—many say they invented the dance. Whatever the case may be, they’ve greatly contributed to its success, which in turn has propelled them beyond Togo’s borders. Their hits now play in Francophone clubs throughout the continent, in particular in Côte d’Ivoire, home to coupé décalé, where people know which cool catché moves to throw down.
But I’m still a music nerd, and even though I do find some of Toofan’s songs to be very catchy, I’ve been looking for groups pushing the musical boundaries of cool catché a bit further. Enter Kossi Ape’son. More of a traditional singer, he’s been around for a few years already, ever since he started under the patronage of King Mensah, perhaps the most influential Togolese artist of his generation. Backed by King Mensah, Ape’son ventured into Togo’s more traditional music, recording songs using some of the country’s countless rhythms and making two full albums out of it. He’s managed to tour West Africa, and has built a very decent name for himself, but in the age of paramount dominance of cool catché, there isn’t usually much room for anything else.
Luckily, cool catché is not a monolithic, unattainable sound, and Ape’son has quite an affinity for the catchy dance. He saw a natural proximity between cool catché and some of the native Togolese rhythms he grew up on, so he decided to fuse the dance with gazo, a fast paced traditional rhythm normally played on the gakokoe, a type of gong, and the aya, a type of castanet. I’m long overdue a trip back to Togo to school myself better on these rhythms, so check back in for some further investigations into the immensely addictive Ewé, Mina and Anlo rhythms.
With Ape’son, what caught my attention was the video for the song, which does not display Western, blingy surroundings, but instead shows a bunch of people dancing in a village setting. Simple concept, beautiful visuals: I often wonder why such videos are not more common? Now that the song taken over in Togo, I’m hoping its success will open doors to diversify the musicality of cool catché, so that the beats match the dance’s originality. Next up: let’s get this guy in the studio!
My level is the biggest song from Shatta Wale this year. Its a street anthem and its currently enjoying radio and club plays all over the country. On My Level, Shatta Wale talks about how far he is come in this industry. Starting of as Bandana , going on a hiatus and...
DJ Pizaro: This week we have La vie là-bas by Togolese act Toofan , Fakye by Highlife act Bisa K'dei, sultry Nana Yaa drops a new one called Woman Power , Dancehall Queen Mzvee features Kuami Eugene on Bend Down and Ruff Town Records new signee Wendy Shay...
This is one of the biggest Afrobeats song on the african continent today. The song has an afrohouse vibe to it and you cant help but " Shaku Shaku " when you hear it. There's an interesting story behind this hit song and that is why we feature it on Lala Shishi this...
Kossi Ape’son: Gazo Cool Catché
Originally published in the Lungu Lungu column for Fader magazine.
Living in Ghana, I am constantly bombarded with references to azonto, the dance craze which has taken over the country in the last year. If it’s not kids spontaneously busting out azonto moves on the street, it’s a grocery bag printed with a pattern made of azonto dancers. But a mere 120 miles away, in neighboring Togo, a very different dance craze has also taken hold. Cool catché may not be getting quite the online buzz that azonto has been generating, but it is just as unavoidable in Lomé as azonto is in Accra.
The cool catché’s pace is set by hit songs by groups such as Toofan. When I first heard their music, I thought they sounded like an Ivorian coupé décalé group, and I was quick to dismiss them, thinking they probably would never make it anywhere outside of Togo, since they are just imitating what others are already doing—a lot—in other countries. I was wrong. I was only listening to the music, and not paying attention to the dance. Toofan completely embraced cool catché—many say they invented the dance. Whatever the case may be, they’ve greatly contributed to its success, which in turn has propelled them beyond Togo’s borders. Their hits now play in Francophone clubs throughout the continent, in particular in Côte d’Ivoire, home to coupé décalé, where people know which cool catché moves to throw down.
But I’m still a music nerd, and even though I do find some of Toofan’s songs to be very catchy, I’ve been looking for groups pushing the musical boundaries of cool catché a bit further. Enter Kossi Ape’son. More of a traditional singer, he’s been around for a few years already, ever since he started under the patronage of King Mensah, perhaps the most influential Togolese artist of his generation. Backed by King Mensah, Ape’son ventured into Togo’s more traditional music, recording songs using some of the country’s countless rhythms and making two full albums out of it. He’s managed to tour West Africa, and has built a very decent name for himself, but in the age of paramount dominance of cool catché, there isn’t usually much room for anything else.
Luckily, cool catché is not a monolithic, unattainable sound, and Ape’son has quite an affinity for the catchy dance. He saw a natural proximity between cool catché and some of the native Togolese rhythms he grew up on, so he decided to fuse the dance with gazo, a fast paced traditional rhythm normally played on the gakokoe, a type of gong, and the aya, a type of castanet. I’m long overdue a trip back to Togo to school myself better on these rhythms, so check back in for some further investigations into the immensely addictive Ewé, Mina and Anlo rhythms.
With Ape’son, what caught my attention was the video for the song, which does not display Western, blingy surroundings, but instead shows a bunch of people dancing in a village setting. Simple concept, beautiful visuals: I often wonder why such videos are not more common? Now that the song taken over in Togo, I’m hoping its success will open doors to diversify the musicality of cool catché, so that the beats match the dance’s originality. Next up: let’s get this guy in the studio!
My level is the biggest song from Shatta Wale this year. Its a street anthem and its currently enjoying radio and club plays all over the country. On My Level, Shatta Wale talks about how far he is come in this industry. Starting of as Bandana , going on a hiatus and...
DJ Pizaro: This week we have La vie là-bas by Togolese act Toofan , Fakye by Highlife act Bisa K'dei, sultry Nana Yaa drops a new one called Woman Power , Dancehall Queen Mzvee features Kuami Eugene on Bend Down and Ruff Town Records new signee Wendy Shay...
This is one of the biggest Afrobeats song on the african continent today. The song has an afrohouse vibe to it and you cant help but " Shaku Shaku " when you hear it. There's an interesting story behind this hit song and that is why we feature it on Lala Shishi this...
