Atchegbe is a Yoruba word which means doing something without consequences, as in “I’m going to rip off this guy, it’s atchegbe” – it’ll have no consequence. It’s used anytime someone makes a dubious profit. The song, which is not sang in Yoruba but in Fon, takes a shot at corruption, a rampant problem in Benin and a major political concern.
Alassane Sy had an office career until recently, when he decided to go back to his true passion: music. On our first release, Akwaaba wo Africa, we’re featuring one of Alassane’s most bautiful songs, Ngatamaré, which means rain in wolof, Senegal’s dominant language. More generally ngatamaré is synonymous with abundance, and in the song the word refers to Maimouna Sow, a woman who fills her home and friends with her abundance of care and respect.
[:en]Michel was born in southern Bénin, where he started singing at a very early age. After playing the guitar for local bands, he got his first break when he met Mamadou Doumbia during a trip to Côte d’Ivoire. There he learned to play the trombone and started playing for many local musicians. Today he plays for Tiken Jah Fakoly, one of Africa’s biggest stars today, but also released his own salsa albums, including “Agoh” which will be released worldwide on Akwaaba.
[:fr]Michel est né au sud du Bénin et débute très jeune le chant. Après avoir joué de la guitare pour des groupes locaux, il vit sa première rupture lorsqu’il rencontre Mamadou Doumbia lors d’un voyage en Côte d’Ivoire. Là, il apprend à jouer du trombone et commence à jouer pour de nombreux artistes locaux. Il joue aujourd’hui pour Tiken Jah Fakoly, une des plus grande star africaine contemporaine, mais a également sorti son propre album de salsa, intitulé “Agoh”, qui va être diffusé mondialement par Akwaaba.
[:de]Michel was born in southern Bénin, where he started singing at a very early age. After playing the guitar for local bands, he got his first break when he met Mamadou Doumbia during a trip to Côte d’Ivoire. There he learned to play the trombone and started playing for many local musicians. Today he plays for Tiken Jah Fakoly, one of Africa’s biggest stars today, but also released his own salsa albums, including “Agoh” which will be released worldwide on Akwaaba.
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About 2 minutes into the video, you’ll recognize the melody from Ahmed’s song Baro, featured on Akwaaba wo Africa.
Ahmed grew up in the griot tradition of poetry and music. A talented multi-instrumentist, he has played the flute, balafon (African xylophone), kora and hand drums for numerous Malian greats, including Toumani Diabaté and Vieux Farka Touré. Today he is still touring with them but also focusing on his own projects, including Riff Mandingue which will come out on Akwaaba.
It gets real hot in Bamako, so a lot of the social life happens at night. Friends like to meet after dinner for baro, to chat, often over shots of attaya. Attaya is a tea patiently prepared from green tea, and served in series of three small shot glasses, bitter, strong then sweet. It’s prepared in a pot right on top of a small pyramide of coals. Malians often offered me a glass of attaya, the inside joke being that a toubab is served the third brew, the sweetest and least bitter – the same usually served to children!
I was able to make my way to the full three rounds, complete with discussions flowing from French to Bambara and back, tales of musicians on the road, of cousins in Paris, and one name that came back often was… Obama!
ABK and Oumar took me back to Hush Hush Studios, where I met the owner, Daniel, and LIB Queen, one of Liberia’s top acts. She’s played for a UN concert, for Liberia’s first female president, and a number of other shows in Liberia as well as in Ghana where she now lives. She sings to hiplife, dancehall and reggae beat produced by some of Ghana’s finest, right here at Hush Hush.
