08/14 LA: Akwaaba on Afrodicia (KPFK)
Nnamdi Moweta, host of KPFK's Afrodicia, invites Akwaaba yet again to share some of the sounds and stories we gathered on our recent trip to Ghana and Togo. Nnamdi is one of our number one supporters, and it'll be a real pleasure to bring him some freshness from the...
Obroni Start Shakin
On the more obroni side of things... more techno, less soukous, hopefully just as enjoyable!!! Playlist: 01 - BATIDA - TRIBALISMO FEAT SACERDOTE (Facebook - iTunes) 02 - SCHLACHTHOFBRONX - FUNANA (website - Soundcloud) 03 - KILLAMU - FLAMINGUINHO (bandcamp - iTunes)...
Reeeeeemix! 4×4 Appietus – “Miss Doctor”
It's official!! We are letting you take over 4x4'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...
Jali – Combination Remix Contest Winners!
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...
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......
Highlife Stockholm vs Akwaaba
Another fine mashup of some of our recent titles... this time coming from our good friends Anna and Sebastian of Highlife Stockholm! Scroll down for full tracklist. What's the story behind High Life? High Life is Stockholm’s most tropical club night and dj-team. Since...
Bomb Diggy – Crusade of the Monkey Mix
Fresh from Amsterdam, Bomb Diggy's Crusade of the Monkey Mix!!! In their own words: "For this mix the crew-members individually gave their most powerful tropical bass tracks to the mix monkey for a lousy fee of 2 crates of bananas, some pineapple juice, and a bottle...
06/19 UK: Just A Band in The Guardian
Our friend Gervase de Wilde writes for the Guardian, and we've been secretly hoping he'd get Just A Band a feature in the paper... but as it turns out the band shows up in the travel section as a fine example of Nairobi's lively music scene. No need to paraphrase,...
Hat+Hoodie – Akwaabarama mixtape
Akwaabarama Mix by Hat+Hoodie Our German sucks, but we still love to *read* Hat + Hoodie's posts - or should we say, look at the odd series of letters and wonder what they are saying. Thankfully, once they get behind the decks the language is universal, and this last...
George Spratz & Frederica Live in Kumasi
We met George Spratz in Kumasi last month, but only Ananse got to meet Frederica, who sings with George. Ananse brought back this video, which we melted for. We'd never heard the original song by Ronan Keating, but we sure like this one. So we recorded George,...
Ananse Predicting the Weather
Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp
Schmoozin’ in Accra
We've been really, really bad about keeping the site up to date these last couple of weeks. We're just too busy schmoozin' around in Accra! These photos will give you a quick taste of the types of encounters we're making on the ground in Ghana....
Did we never post this?! Perfect Loosers @ Social Club (Paris) Ze Buuuuula!
Northern Ghana
Northern Ghana from Akwaaba Music on Vimeo. I've been trying to leave Tamale in the north of Ghana all day, which leaves me with plenty of time to fill you in. What do we know about the North of Ghana? It's fairly isolated from the south, where both major cities sit:...
GH Hip Hop & “Afropop” in Tema (Ghana)
Another no-media blackberry post... Long days, hard to find time to upload much from a computer, but here's the low-down: We spent the day in Tema, about 30 km east from central Accra. TONS of hits have been coming from there. Some names are emerging. We met Nana...
More Sapeurs in Colors Mag
You know we love this stuff... remember the Gentlemen of Bakongo?
Killamu in Riddim mag (DE)
The review is in the paper mag, but apparently not on the website... thanks to our buddy Georg from Outhere Records for pointing this one out!!
Day 2 in Accra: Panji, Hewale Sound, Appietus
Panji of Pigen Music had some spare time this morning, so he shared some of his stories and thoughts about music, music in Ghana, where he fits in and where global fans and exposure fit in. An interesting point he made is that music made anywhere should appeal to the...
First steps in Accra
We were lucky... LA to Accra via Amsterdam was relatively smooth... No one got stranded in post-volcano Europe, we narrowly escaped the air travel chaos and arrived safely in Ghana. We are staying with Panji of Pidgen Music. Not a bad place to be: both Panji and...
Ghana 2010: the saga begins!
Pretty funny start to our adventure, below are the directions to the house where we're staying in Accra: "In west airport, ask for the north Dzorwulu ("djuwulu") traffic light by the Fiesta Royale hotel. At that traffic light, there are women selling food, look for...
DJ UMB: House of Afreaka mixtape
We love our global beat-addicted blog friends, such as the cats from GenerationBass.com. We met Vince aka Sonido Del Principe last February in Tilburg and Rotterdam, and we've been in touch with DJ UMB for a bit longer, you might have grabbed his Sem Transporte kuduro...
Angolan Semba vs Brazilian Samba
Hey African music fans! My name is Catherine Barnes, and I'll be contributing a series of articles to this blog on Angolan semba and Brazilian samba. I'm a percussionist and armchair ethnomusicologist fascinated by all rhythms African and of the African diaspora. I...
Botswana, land of the Zebra.. wicker.. Ruff Riddims studio!!
Moemdi runs Ruff Riddims, a music production studio located in Palapye, Botswana. Botswana's national animal is the zebra, wicker baskets with geometric motifs are a national staple, and we think how Moemdi incorporated both into his studio...
Next up… Botswana, Skeat “Meropa”
We're excited to release Skeat's debut album later this month!! Expect a crazy mish mash of kwaito, kwassa house, hip hop and even some gospel, all meticulously produced by Ruff Riddims's Moemdi Ramogapi. More soon on these pages...
Akwaaba featured in the Last Magazine
When Akwaaba boy Benjamin Lebrave did the photo session with NY photographer Mark Squires, he was told that everybody wants to be in the Last Magazine, but that the mag's picky editorial team turned down anything if they'd heard of it already: so no J-Lo or Lady Gaga...
Fashion Designers in Angola
Luanda's emerging bourgeoisie is getting served by a young generation of designers... read on here. The photo reminds us of this fantastic book about the Sapeurs in Brazzaville.