Mabiisi’s debut album has made its way into some of the most inspiring and respected radio shows and playlists around the world: the raw energy of the kologo and both Art Melody and Stevo Atambire’s powerful vocals have paved the way for shows and international tours in Europe and Africa. It only made sense to take the sound further and let a group of talented producers re-interpret the duo’s opus, and intersect it with their own sounds and aesthetics.
The result is a very creative and diverse set of remixes, a large half of them particularly suited for peak hour dance floor action, others more appropriate for – dare I say it – meditation! A few words about the various remixers:
Ghost Nebula: up and coming Paris-based artist and producer Ghost Nebula carries Mabiisi into a highly stylized electronic world, a perfect hybrid between the acoustic village acoustics of the original recording, and his typically futurist, punchy compositions.
Jinku: one of the masterminds and leaders behind Nairobi’s EA Wave and more generally the Nu Nairobi sound, Jinku takes Mabiisi into a dark, dubbed out trip into his unique organic groove, adding a lot of his own melodic elements into the composition. With this thorough rework of the original song, Jinku gives us a powerful glimpse of his creative depth.
DJ Satelite: One of the most relevant and acclaimed names in Angolan house, label boss of the Seres Produções, and longtime friend of Akwaaba, Satelite gives us a highly effective afrohouse take on Mabiisi, bringing us straight to Luanda’s dancefloors with this powerful remix.
Rosario & DJ Nax: part of the Mbambu Records collective, Lisbon-based kuduro and afrohouse producers Rosario & DJ Nax are longtime party favorites of BBRAVE, it only made sense to have them join the Akwaaba family for this project. Inevitably, the duo came up with two massive afrohouse bangers.
Swing Ting: Manchester-based party and production team Swing Ting have been on a very quick rise this year, with remixes and multiple features across many influential mags and websites. They’re also long time supporters of Akwaaba, so it’s a real pleasure to join forces with them on this very solid remix.
Jowaa: Akwaaba’s biggest success of 2017 is Jowaa, which sees veteran producer Gafacci and Akwaaba head BBRAVE taking Ghanaian rhythms into the electronic sphere. The added production over Mabiisi’s kologo makes for a highly potent afrobeats-friendly dub.
Riot Stereo & SURAJ: SURAJ is a force to be reckoned with in Nairobi’s competitive nightlife. A high demand DJ with an itch to produce, he’s already been to Cape Town to flex his skills with Red Bull, and has been showcased on our site before, so it’s a pleasure to work with him on this remix, accompanied by Riot Stereo, a Czech-born globe-trotting DJ and producer who has also been making his mark in the Kenyan circuit.
ARTIST
RELATED
Mabiisi – Remixes
Mabiisi’s debut album has made its way into some of the most inspiring and respected radio shows and playlists around the world: the raw energy of the kologo and both Art Melody and Stevo Atambire’s powerful vocals have paved the way for shows and international tours in Europe and Africa. It only made sense to take the sound further and let a group of talented producers re-interpret the duo’s opus, and intersect it with their own sounds and aesthetics.
The result is a very creative and diverse set of remixes, a large half of them particularly suited for peak hour dance floor action, others more appropriate for – dare I say it – meditation! A few words about the various remixers:
Ghost Nebula: up and coming Paris-based artist and producer Ghost Nebula carries Mabiisi into a highly stylized electronic world, a perfect hybrid between the acoustic village acoustics of the original recording, and his typically futurist, punchy compositions.
Jinku: one of the masterminds and leaders behind Nairobi’s EA Wave and more generally the Nu Nairobi sound, Jinku takes Mabiisi into a dark, dubbed out trip into his unique organic groove, adding a lot of his own melodic elements into the composition. With this thorough rework of the original song, Jinku gives us a powerful glimpse of his creative depth.
DJ Satelite: One of the most relevant and acclaimed names in Angolan house, label boss of the Seres Produções, and longtime friend of Akwaaba, Satelite gives us a highly effective afrohouse take on Mabiisi, bringing us straight to Luanda’s dancefloors with this powerful remix.
Rosario & DJ Nax: part of the Mbambu Records collective, Lisbon-based kuduro and afrohouse producers Rosario & DJ Nax are longtime party favorites of BBRAVE, it only made sense to have them join the Akwaaba family for this project. Inevitably, the duo came up with two massive afrohouse bangers.
Swing Ting: Manchester-based party and production team Swing Ting have been on a very quick rise this year, with remixes and multiple features across many influential mags and websites. They’re also long time supporters of Akwaaba, so it’s a real pleasure to join forces with them on this very solid remix.
Jowaa: Akwaaba’s biggest success of 2017 is Jowaa, which sees veteran producer Gafacci and Akwaaba head BBRAVE taking Ghanaian rhythms into the electronic sphere. The added production over Mabiisi’s kologo makes for a highly potent afrobeats-friendly dub.
Riot Stereo & SURAJ: SURAJ is a force to be reckoned with in Nairobi’s competitive nightlife. A high demand DJ with an itch to produce, he’s already been to Cape Town to flex his skills with Red Bull, and has been showcased on our site before, so it’s a pleasure to work with him on this remix, accompanied by Riot Stereo, a Czech-born globe-trotting DJ and producer who has also been making his mark in the Kenyan circuit.
Mabiisi is the natural artistic encounter between acclaimed Burkinabè MC Art Melody and Stevo Atambire, one of the most influential kologo musicians of Ghana. Both artists speak languages that are close, they hail from similar cultures, yet their people have been left estranged and distant by the colonial boundaries of the region.
Mabiisi means “brothers from a same mother” in both the Frafra of northern Ghana and the Mooré language of Burkina Faso’s Mossi people. The concept stems from Art Melody’s wish to reconnect with his musical roots, his desire to go back to the time when his voice encouraged farmers, as a young boy singing in the fields with his mother. The boy is now an experienced international artist, considered one of the most significant voices in African hip hop. Likewise Stevo Atambire has experienced tremendous success at home in the north of Ghana, as well as on the road as part of Wanlov the Kubolor‘s innovative Afro Gypsy band.
Following a first encounter in Accra in December 2014, the natural intuition and chemistry between Art Melody and Stevo Atambire immediately drove the two to create a timeless opus, a collection of songs drawing as much from their common land as it does from their own musical paths, a reconciliation of the village and the city, of Francophone and Anglophone Africa, a genuine pan-African bridge across lands and generations, which would make Sankara and Nkrumah proud.
ARTIST
RELATED
Mabiisi – Mabiisi
Mabiisi is the natural artistic encounter between acclaimed Burkinabè MC Art Melody and Stevo Atambire, one of the most influential kologo musicians of Ghana. Both artists speak languages that are close, they hail from similar cultures, yet their people have been left estranged and distant by the colonial boundaries of the region.
Mabiisi means “brothers from a same mother” in both the Frafra of northern Ghana and the Mooré language of Burkina Faso’s Mossi people. The concept stems from Art Melody’s wish to reconnect with his musical roots, his desire to go back to the time when his voice encouraged farmers, as a young boy singing in the fields with his mother. The boy is now an experienced international artist, considered one of the most significant voices in African hip hop. Likewise Stevo Atambire has experienced tremendous success at home in the north of Ghana, as well as on the road as part of Wanlov the Kubolor‘s innovative Afro Gypsy band.
Following a first encounter in Accra in December 2014, the natural intuition and chemistry between Art Melody and Stevo Atambire immediately drove the two to create a timeless opus, a collection of songs drawing as much from their common land as it does from their own musical paths, a reconciliation of the village and the city, of Francophone and Anglophone Africa, a genuine pan-African bridge across lands and generations, which would make Sankara and Nkrumah proud.
