Now THIS here is an exciting event… lately, Akwaaba’s so-called “Label Boss” (what a dubious expression!!) aka BBRAVE has been rocking more tropical / electro- oriented dancefloors. Now he is invited to make some noise at Surprise, Berlin’s most notorious African club. So expect a heavy set of straight up African jams, from Naija to Soukous to – of course – plenty of hiplife, coupé décalé, and hopefully enough kuduro to make the (Angolan) owner jump!!! Get the full scoop and RSVP here.
And we got some friends onboard!! First, our homies from Nairobi and Amsterdam, This Is Africa, who are bringing some TIA goodies to the table… and speaking of goodies, we recently discovered Mbóte, which makes delicious ready-made specialties from the Kongo terroir… yum yum yum from here to there and back. Swing by for a taste of Africa!!!
Many,. many, MANY thanks to Ryan Lash for coping with the lack of structure, the heat, the at times dubious food and the heavy sweat-inducing “small walks” across Lomé and Accra!!! And tahnks to Tim aka Videomit for piecing this video together, at last we are excited to share this glimpse into Arc Djébé’s world with you. Full album available from us via Bandcamp, or in iTunes.
Brussels rockers Darcyr and Leblanc of Tupolev Sound Crash just hit us up with this pretty impeccable set of South African house, simply called Mzansi – SA slang for… SA! As the Tupolev cats put it, this mix is not of the deep, mellow, or minimal strain that is perhaps more common. Instead they went for a funky, tribal and dark approach. We like. Get schooled on that side of music in about one hour (beats driving school), full tracklist on soundcloud page. We should also mention that Leblanc was the one dood who came up to BBRAVE after his recent set at Recyclart in Brussels, admitting he actually heard a few kuduro cuts he’d never heard! Good to know Akwaaba can impress even the most musically knowledgeable nerds ;-p
Oh and while we’re at it, peep this mix they did about a year ago, freshly re-uploaded for your downloading pleasure: 100% COUPE DECALE!!!!
The good folks over at French blog Global Bass met up with Akwaaba dood Benjamin Lebrave last October in Paris to catch up with Akwaaba and get some juice about the label – in French, something we have not done enough of!! Thankfully Tim also translated the interview so here it is with English subtitles. For French speakers, be sure to check out the more in-depth full interview in French.
A documentary about Ghana’s popular music scene and the struggle between indigenous identity and mainstream music culture. The documentary is framed by a search for “the spiderweb”– or the thin, vibrating fibers that African musicians once attached to their mbiras and xylophones to, allegedly, create a buzzing sound that would invoke their ancestors. Via the Eavesdrop.earth blog.
