02/24 EU: Move it Chaleh! iTunes Release
[:en]
Move it Chaleh! Words you might hear at an outdoor chop bar in Accra, Ghana, a calling for you to get up and shake it. A hint to the pungent grooves blasting out of subwoofers and beat up sound systems throughout West Africa today.
Smaller, cheaper studios are sprouting all over big African cities, allowing a new generation of artists to create and push the envelope of urban and dance music. In particular, Move It Chaleh! focuses on two underrated African trends: Coupé décalé is the upbeat sound of Côte d’Ivoire today, a dance craze which can be heard throughout francophone Africa. It has roots in both Congolese soukous and Ivorian zouglou. It emerged at the height of the Ivorian crisis around 2002-2003, first in Paris, but it quickly spread to Ivory Coast, to Africa and now to the world.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian mish mash of hip hop, dancehall, calypso and other Caribbean styles, with highlife, itself a mix of soul and funk with more traditional Ghanaian rhythms. It has taken Ghana by storm, and it is well known to Ghanaian abroad, particularly in the US and UK, yet it is still off the radar for most.
Time to change that. Move it chaleh![:fr]
Move it Chaleh! Des mots que vous êtes susceptible d’entendre dans un chop bar en terrasse à Accra, Ghana, une injonction à vous lever et vous remuer sur la musique. Une incitation à aller à la rencontre des sons piquants sortant des caissons de graves et des sounds systems de toute l’Afrique de l’Ouest actuelle.
Des studios plus petits, moins chers voient le jour dans toutes les grandes villes africaines, ouvrant à une nouvelle génération d’artistes la possibilité de créer et de repousser les frontières de l’urban et la dance music. Move It Chaleh! se focalise en particulier sur deux tendances sous-estimées de la musique africaine :
- Le Coupé décalé est le son de la Côte d’Ivoire d’aujourd’hui, une danse dont la fièvre trouve désormais écho à travers toute l’Afrique francophone. Il prend racine à la fois dans le soukous congolais et dans le zouglou ivoirien. Il émerge à l’apogée de la crise ivoirienne aux alentours de 2002-2003, tout d’abord à Paris, mais se répand rapidement à la Côte d’Ivoire, à l’Afrique et désormais au monde.
- Le Hiplife est un mélange ghanéen de hip hop, dancehall, calypso et d’autres styles caribéens avec le highlife, lui-même mélange de soul et de funk additionnées de rythmes traditionnels ghanéens. Il a investi le Ghana en un éclair, est très diffusé auprès de la diaspora ghanéenne au Royaume-Uni et aux Etats-Unis en particulier, et pourtant reste encore inconnu du plus grand nombre.
Il est temps que ça change, Move it Chaleh !
[:de]
Move it Chaleh! Words you might hear at an outdoor chop bar in Accra, Ghana, a calling for you to get up and shake it. A hint to the pungent grooves blasting out of subwoofers and beat up sound systems throughout West Africa today.
Smaller, cheaper studios are sprouting all over big African cities, allowing a new generation of artists to create and push the envelope of urban and dance music. In particular, Move It Chaleh! focuses on two underrated African trends: Coupé décalé is the upbeat sound of Côte d’Ivoire today, a dance craze which can be heard throughout francophone Africa. It has roots in both Congolese soukous and Ivorian zouglou. It emerged at the height of the Ivorian crisis around 2002-2003, first in Paris, but it quickly spread to Ivory Coast, to Africa and now to the world.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian mish mash of hip hop, dancehall, calypso and other Caribbean styles, with highlife, itself a mix of soul and funk with more traditional Ghanaian rhythms. It has taken Ghana by storm, and it is well known to Ghanaian abroad, particularly in the US and UK, yet it is still off the radar for most.
Time to change that. Move it chaleh![:]
Garth Trinidad shows some love!
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.
Chaleh Masala!
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.
02/03 US: Move it Chaleh! iTunes Release
Move it Chaleh! Words you might hear at an outdoor chop bar in Accra, Ghana, a calling for you to get up and shake it. A hint to the pungent grooves blasting out of subwoofers and beat up sound systems throughout West Africa today.
Smaller, cheaper studios are sprouting all over big African cities, allowing a new generation of artists to create and push the envelope of urban and dance music. In particular, Move It Chaleh! focuses on two underrated African trends:
Coupé décalé is the upbeat sound of Côte d’Ivoire today, a dance craze which can be heard throughout francophone Africa. It has roots in both Congolese soukous and Ivorian zouglou. It emerged at the height of the Ivorian crisis around 2002-2003, first in Paris, but it quickly spread to Ivory Coast, to Africa and now to the world.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian mish mash of hip hop, dancehall, calypso and other Caribbean styles, with highlife, itself a mix of soul and funk with more traditional Ghanaian rhythms. It has taken Ghana by storm, and it is well known to Ghanaian abroad, particularly in the US and UK, yet it is still off the radar for most.
Time to change that. Move it chaleh!
DJ Bonano – Django