Elegom Bounsa!!

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DJ Djeff feat Maskarado – Elegom Bounsa by Akwaaba Music

DJ Djeff offers a break from the raw Angolan kuduro batidas, and shows us a clubbier side to the Luanda sound on Elegom Bounsa, a collaboration with kuduro-house darling MC Maskarado.

House and deep house are the result of years in Portugal’s club circuit, inspired by the likes of Louie Vega, DJ Gregory or Erick Morillo. Looking further, DJ Djeff’s music has roots in African and Caribbean classics such as Cesaria Evora or Kassav, tunes he would hear a lot growing up in a Cape Verdian and Angolan household in Lisbon.

From 2002 to 2008, DJ Djeff was perfecting his DJing skills at various clubs in Portugal and Angola. When he completed his graphic design course in Lisbon in 2008, he headed straight to Luanda, where he’s taken the club circuit by storm, while also honing his skills as a beat maker. But there’s more: DJ Djeff is also the host of Made in Angola on TV Zimbo, an influential TOP 10 music video show in Angola.

DJ Djeff has quickly made a name for himself on Angola’s music and club circuit, landing him a collaboration with Maskarado, a familiar voice – and face – in Angola: Maskarado has become the go-to kuduro MC for all kuduro / house crossovers, collaborating with producers such as Eliei, but also working as an actor with film makers such as Ho Chi Fu.

Despite their busy schedules, the two found time to record this big, big tune. Not a day goes by in Luanda without hearing Elegom Bounsa, we feel sharing it is way overdue! A nova dica pai!

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DJ Djeff feat Maskarado – Elegom Bounsa by Akwaaba Music

DJ Djeff nous propose de mettre de côté un instant les batidas brut du kuduro Angolais et nous montre un aspect plus club du son luandais avec Elegom Bounsa, une collaboration avec le chéri de la kuduro-house MC Maskarado.

La House et la Deep House sont le résultat d’années passées dans le milieu club du Portugal, inspirés par exemple par Louie Vega, DJ Gregory ou Erick Morillo. En allant chercher plus loin, la musique de DJ Djeff trouve ses racines dans les classiques africains et caribéens comme Cesaria Evora ou Kassav, des morceaux qu’en grandissant dans une famille cap-verdienne et angolaise à Lisbonne il a beaucoup entendus.

De 2002 à 2008, DJ Djeff a parfait ses compétences de DJing dans un certain nombre de clubs au Portugal et en Angola. Dès qu’il termine ses études de design graphique à Lisbonne en 2008, il part à Luanda sur le champ, où il a complètement retourné le monde des clubs tout en affûtant ses compétences de beat-maker. Mais il y a autre chose encore : DJ Djeff est aussi l’organisateur de Made in Angola sur TV Zimbo, un show de TOP 10 de clips influent en Angola.

DJ Djeff s’est rapidement fait un nom dans le milieu des clubs et dans la musique angolaise, ce qui le conduit à collaborer avec Maskarado, une voix (et un visage) familiers en Angola : Maskarado est devenu le MC de kuduro en vogue pour tous les projets kuduro / house, collaborant avec des producteurs tels que Eliei, mais travaillant aussi comme acteur pour des réalisateurs comme Ho Chi Fu.

Malgré leurs emploi du temps chargés, tous deux ont réussi à trouver un moment pour enregistrer ce gros, gros son. Pas un jour ne passe à Luanda sans que l’on entende Elegom Bounsa, ça nous donne l’impression d’être en retard en le partageant ! A nova dica pai !

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DJEFF_COVER500

DJ Djeff feat Maskarado – Elegom Bounsa by Akwaaba Music

DJ Djeff offers a break from the raw Angolan kuduro batidas, and shows us a clubbier side to the Luanda sound on Elegom Bounsa, a collaboration with kuduro-house darling MC Maskarado.

House and deep house are the result of years in Portugal’s club circuit, inspired by the likes of Louie Vega, DJ Gregory or Erick Morillo. Looking further, DJ Djeff’s music has roots in African and Caribbean classics such as Cesaria Evora or Kassav, tunes he would hear a lot growing up in a Cape Verdian and Angolan household in Lisbon.

From 2002 to 2008, DJ Djeff was perfecting his DJing skills at various clubs in Portugal and Angola. When he completed his graphic design course in Lisbon in 2008, he headed straight to Luanda, where he’s taken the club circuit by storm, while also honing his skills as a beat maker. But there’s more: DJ Djeff is also the host of Made in Angola on TV Zimbo, an influential TOP 10 music video show in Angola.

DJ Djeff has quickly made a name for himself on Angola’s music and club circuit, landing him a collaboration with Maskarado, a familiar voice – and face – in Angola: Maskarado has become the go-to kuduro MC for all kuduro / house crossovers, collaborating with producers such as Eliei, but also working as an actor with film makers such as Ho Chi Fu.

Despite their busy schedules, the two found time to record this big, big tune. Not a day goes by in Luanda without hearing Elegom Bounsa, we feel sharing it is way overdue! A nova dica pai!

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09/14 WW: Ruff n Smooth!!

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From Accra, Ghana, come one of the most influential duos of the year… Mr Ruff, and Mr Smooth! If you haven’t heard their hit Swagger, now is a good time to grab it – for free:

These doods are relative newcomers on Ghana’s airwaves, but they’re well surrounded… the album features beats by Accra heavyweights such as Richie, Kaywa, Playboi, Kill Beats + more. Ruff n Smooth have a few European and North American gigs in the works, so stay tuned for more, join our newsletter to make sure you get the info. We’re proud to release their full album today! You can buy it directly from Ruff n Smooth’s bandcamp page, or exclusively in iTunes.

09/09 WW: Arc Djebe ‘Dagbeneva” (Togo)

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When was the last time you listened to music from Togo?!?! Even the biggest world music nerds seem to not be so well versed in this tiny West African nation’s rich musical heritage. We’ve heard it all: that it has poor cultural heritage, that all of the talent is sucked up by neighboring Benin, that there simply is no infrastructure in Togo to enable artists to come up with anything half decent.

Well…. it sounds to us like all of the above are well contradicted by one man: Arc Djebe. The Lomé native has been hustling on the guitar for years now – over two decades! His talent took him from Cameroon to Côte d’Ivoire, yet to this day Arc Djebe has been doing everything himself: auto-production, and auto-distribution. Which means a permanent hustle, in a country where music producers are scarce to say the least. With help from friends, occasional grants and live shows, Arc Djebe managed to record 4 mini albums, including this last one. Dagbénéva means “happiness” or “quest of happiness” in Ewe, the most common language along the Togolese coast. Six potent tracks, recorded at home, in Togo, with his band Zozodede.

You can grab the full album directly from Arc Djebe’s Bandcamp store, or from iTunes. You can also download this great great track Kumble (“power”) for freeeeeee:

Reeeeeemix! 4×4 Appietus – “Miss Doctor”

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It’s official!! We are letting you take over 4×4’s vocals to make whatever you see fit out of this massive banger from Ghana… we heard this song playing 20 times a day on the radio, at outdoor bars, at weddings… now is the chance to see where else this track can end up!! Download the acapella track from Soundcloud above, and upload your remix to our dropbox by September 15:

Send me your track

The prize… is getting released on one of the most forward thinking labels of African music, he he. We will put out an EP with our favorite remixes, as we did for Ze Bula and Combination. Download the original song in nearly any format below – we just ask for your email, cool?

Jali – Combination Remix Contest Winners!

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LONG OVERDUE!!!! We know it, and we are slightly ashamed of it… well not that ashamed really, because good things are well worth waiting for. And we are proud to announce very good things!!

At last, the winners of the Jali Bakary Konteh remix contest are in…

From Fulda / Würzburg Germany, our friends Hat+Hoodie pieced together a massive banger:

From Glasgow, Scotland, we couldn’t help but bring back the dubbed out sound of Voltergeist:

From San Francisco, California, we are excited to feature a deep cut by Señor Oz of Afrolicious:

And last but not least, a newbie on our radar, artfx! from Berlin, Germany:

This EP will come out in September, as soon as we get final cuts and master them… thanks again to all of you who submitted their remix, it was a very tough call!!! And again, congratulations to the winners, we love your choons!!!

Appietus & 4X4 – Miss Doctor – free download

Appietus & 4X4 – Miss Doctor – free download

This song is a HIIIIIIT in Ghana! 4X4 have been around for a while, but are finally making it REAL BIG, thanks in part to this massive track, produced by Appietus – of course ;-p

The song takes place at the Boomerang nightclub, where we spent a few decadent nights… As of late Boomerang has been hosting some pretty sick Francophone parties, with plenty of coupé décalé and students from across Francophone Africa frantically shaking their bobarabas.

You can download the track for free in exchange for your email – which we promise we will not share with the entire world, no 419 here!

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Appietus & 4X4 – Miss Doctor – free download

This song is a HIIIIIIT in Ghana! 4X4 have been around for a while, but are finally making it REAL BIG, thanks in part to this massive track, produced by Appietus – of course ;-p

The song takes place at the Boomerang nightclub, where we spent a few decadent nights… As of late Boomerang has been hosting some pretty sick Francophone parties, with plenty of coupé décalé and students from across Francophone Africa frantically shaking their bobarabas.

You can download the track for free in exchange for your email – which we promise we will not share with the entire world, no 419 here!

https://soundcloud.com/akwaabamusic/miss-doctor-appietus-featuring-4×4-ghana

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The landscape of Accra’s nightlife has evolved a great deal since I moved here in 2011. Rapid economic growth means new restaurants, bars and nightclubs open on a regular basis, so when it comes to entertainment here... we have options 😉 Even though I'm a huge...

Akwaaba DJs: Weekly Picks

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DJ Pizaro: This week we have Kofi Mole featuring Kwesi Arthur on Mensah , MzVee with an afrohouse version of her song Summa Dis Summa Dat, the producer cum musician Kayso's new single Abena , Could this be love by sensational group R2Bees featuring the sexy Efya, Wish...

Lala Shishi :Yaa Pono – Obiaa Wone Master feat. Stonebwoy

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Yaa Pono - "Obia [everyone] Wone [has their] Master" in Twi means everyone has someone they respect, irrespective of how fearless they are. "Master" is a term which is used in Ghana mostly by the Akans to describe a wealthy and respected individual in the society. In...