Have you heard of Africa Unsigned? Since you’re here on our site then you’ll probably really dig what they are up to: Africa Unsigned has been identifying up and coming artists throughout Africa, and funding recordings with the help of fans all over the world. Among others, Africa Unsigned worked with Just A Band shortly after they completed their album 82, to help them put together a decent live show, as well as a better studio for their next recording.
Check out how the whole thing works here. But in a nutshell: you contribute any dollar amount, and when the band reaches the target – $10,000 – it is ready to cash in the dough and record songs. And you are oh-so-special my dear Akwaaba fan: Africa Unsigned is letting you register and contribute $5 for free, simply go and register here and use the code ‘akwaaba’. Just by registering you will automatically be contributing $5, which we encourage you to contribute to Just A Band’s page ;-p And of course we all hope you feel compelled to contribute some more!
While we’re at it, here’s a bit of behind the scenes action on Just A Band’s shoot for Ha-He – courtesy of Africa Unsigned.
This crazy track is only the tip of the iceberg… please run to Edoheart’s myspace page and soak in the pungent creativity! Poetry, music, choreography… the Benin empire of modern-day Nigeria is very much alive. You can grab this song Sosomoneycockplease from iTunes. Thanks to Catherine Barnes for turning us onto this one, follow her wise suggestions on Twitter.
And another one! We connect this time with Barcelona / worldwide crew Folcore, who’ve been running the Club du Monde nights. On September 26, Akwaaba’s own bbrave join the festivities, alongside Lisbon’s Diamond Bass, who sounds a little like this:
Also on the bill, our doods hat+hoodie, hailing from Fulda / Würzburg, Germany – did you grab their Akwaabarama mixtape?
We are pretty stoked to make this one happen… we’ve been in touch with the Crowdkrusher guys in Tübingen, Germany for a few months only, and out of this new connection comes a link to the city’s lively tropical scene, starting with a great party to be held at club Mancuso with the lively trio, pictured here hard at work:
Crowdkrushers drop anything from electro and fidget to dancehall and cumbia. Here’s one of their mixes, tropical, uk funky and the like… pungent blend!!! Dig in:
It’s that time of year… we’re headed back to ye olde world to rock a bunch of tropical partaaaaays. Starting in Berlin during Berlin Music Week, which we will also attend – more on that in a bit. We are reconnecting with some key players in Germany and Berlin’s tropical scene:
Dala Dala is giving you a 21st century Afro bass reality check. Songs on heavy rotation from the township minibuses in Soweto to the dala dala minibuses in Dar es Salaam, select tunes from the danfo drivers of Lagos biggest ghetto Ajegunle or the car rapides of Dakar: street music from the hot urban music scenes of Africa. It just had to be a matter of time that an international audience got infected with the virus of the latest African club trends. Dala Dala gives an overview over the wealth and variety of urban sounds from the african continent. Marflix (Tropical Bass, Faluma)
Berlin-based DJ/producer Marflix searching for the perfect beat since the early 90s. Focused on Caribbean music flavored with Bass and Club. Current selection varies from Soca & Caribbean to African club music like Kuduro, Coupé Décalé, Funana to European club music. Marflix also runs his own label Faluma which is specialized on Soca & Caribbean music. Musical background in Punk and HipHop.
DJ Zhao brings contemporary and classic dance music together from all five continents, with focus on Africa. While his DJ sets reach from culture centers to remote areas of the globe, and from today back through the ages, DJ Zhao’s remix and mashup work directly connects “East” and “West”, acoustic and electronic, traditional and hyper-modern. Equal parts ethno-musicologist and booty shaker, Zhao is a transnational ambassador of boom not only talking about, but demonstrating through unforgettable raw sound experience, the underlying unity of all earth rhythms.
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