Afropop Worldwide, The number one African music radio show in the US, but also a multi-speared organization constantly pushing the sounds of Africa, recently did a feature on Akwaaba on their show, and also picked 3 of our artists(Bradez, Alassane Sy and Rose Dede Tetteh) among their Under the Radar 2009 selection!
More and more of our favorite DJs, bloggers and radio hosts are showing a lot of love for Akwaaba and our music!! Nnamdi Moweta has been playing a few of our songs in every one of his Afrodicia shows on KPFK. Jon Kerzer, long time host of the Best Ambiance on Seattle’s KEXP and a familiar face for all things African, is into Kofi Sammy. Istanbul has been spreading the sounds of Mamou Sidibé via the great UndoMundo blog. As has DJ Rupture on his show Mudd Up! on WFMU, and Garth Trinidad on his new blog. Khiasma went for Dogo and Diata Sya on his Masala blog, Dutty Artz crew also did a quick piece on Diata Sya’s track Saria, and www.muzikifan.com went for a full (and great) review of Akwaaba wo Africa. Can’t go over the numerous other radio stations playing our music, but we will mention Richmond VA’s WRIR who posted an extensive playlist on Earbender, and The Transglobal Express show on Power 102FM in… Trinidad! And artists and DJs Radioclit, Chief Boima, Uproot Andy and more Chief Boima! Keep spreadin’ it!
KCRW‘s Garth Trinidad has been supportive of Akwaaba since its inception, asking for our music months before it was even released. He’s shown his continued support on his new blog, www.garthtrinidad.biz, where you’ll find a few kind words about Akwaaba and our mission, as well as a free download of the track Mali Mousso by Mamou Sidibé, off of Move it Chaleh. It’s also nice to see he picked us as one of his favorite indie labels, among the likes of Stones Throw, Honest Jons, Sonar Kollektiv and Strut… wowza!
You can listen to Garth every weekday from 7:30 to 10pm West Coast time, or listen to his recent shows on KCRW’s site.
Jesús, the host of AfricaPachanga on Madrid’s Radio Enlace and Radio Círculo, seems to have fallen in love with Akwaaba. We were very pleased to hear that he did a special show about Akwaaba today. You can check out his blog or download the show directly.
Masala’s blog, masalacism.blogspot.com, is always a good place to find out about new sounds popping up from Soweto to Kingston. He’s been playing some of Akwaaba’s most recent music, off of Move it Chaleh, namely Dogo and Diata Sya on his latest show, which you can download on his site or directly here.
Bintou Simporé, renowned host of Néo Géo on Paris France’s Radio Nova, is interviewing Akwaaba founder Benjamin Lebrave on her show. Bintou spearheads Nova’s Sono Mondiale, and has long been the purveyor of fine yet underrated sounds from across the globe.
With Benjamin, she will focus not only on Peul and Manding sounds from Senegal and Mali, which are somewhat recognized in France, but also on highlife and hiplife from Ghana, which are gaining momentum in other European nations, but remain underrepresented in France. Enjoy!
Update: you can listen to the show as part of the Néo Géo podcast on Radio Nova’s website.