[:en]
Rocky Marsiano‘s first album, Meu Kamba, felt like the very natural, spontaneous reaction between a serious hip hop head, an MPC and a deep collection of Lusophone African records. Upon its release the album immediately drew loads of attention, and Rocky Marsiano quickly hit the road across Europe.
Performing as a sound system with musicians naturally led Rocky Marsiano towards this second volume, which follows a very different approach:
“Meu Kamba was made very impulsively – if I felt a track worked, if there was a good balance to it, I didn’t go much further with the production because I wanted it to sound raw.
On this new volume I did exactly the opposite: every single track was experimented on, its possibilities tested. So this time around there’s a lot more production on every track: bass lines, retro synths, guitar licks, extra vocals, different drum patterns and textures…
It took almost two years to pick the original songs reinterpreted here. Months of a musical journey which led towards a lot of music and influences from Guinea Bissau, which wasn’t a part of the first Meu Kamba. “With this second volume I want to close the cycle, finish a story: my hommage to music from Lusophone Africa.”
[:fr]
Le premier album deRocky Marsiano, Meu Kamba, paraissait la combinaison très naturelle et spontanée d’une personnalité phare du hip hop, d’un MPC (music production center) et d’une importante collection de disques d’Afrique lusophone. Dès sa sortie l’album attire immédiatement beaucoup d’attention, et Rocky Marsiano entame rapidement une tournée à travers l’Europe.
Jouer avec des musiciens au sein d’un sound system a conduit naturellement Rocky Marsiano vers ce second volume, qui répond à une approche très différente :
« Meu Kamba a été produit de manière très impulsive – si je sentais qu’une chanson marchait, si elle était bien équilibrée, je n’allais pas beaucoup plus loin, je ne m’aventurais pas plus dans la production car je voulais que ça sonne brut. Sur ce second opus je fais l’exact inverse : chaque titre a été le résultat d’expérimentations, a vu ses possibilités testées.
Donc cette fois il y a bien plus de production sur chaque piste : des lignes de basses, des synthés retro, des licks de guitare, des vocaux supplémentaires, différentes textures et styles de basses… »
Il a fallu près de deux ans pour sélectionner les titres originaux réinterprétés ici. Des mois d’un voyage musical qui mène à la rencontre de beaucoup de musiques et d’influences de Guinée-Bissau, ce qui n’était pas présent dans le premier Meu Kamba. « Avec ce second volume je veux clore le cycle, mettre fin à une histoire : celle de mon hommage à la musique d’Afrique lusophone. »
[:de]
Rocky Marsiano‘s first album, Meu Kamba, felt like the very natural, spontaneous reaction between a serious hip hop head, an MPC and a deep collection of Lusophone African records. Upon its release the album immediately drew loads of attention, and Rocky Marsiano quickly hit the road across Europe.
Performing as a sound system with musicians naturally led Rocky Marsiano towards this second volume, which follows a very different approach:
“Meu Kamba was made very impulsively – if I felt a track worked, if there was a good balance to it, I didn’t go much further with the production because I wanted it to sound raw.
On this new volume I did exactly the opposite: every single track was experimented on, its possibilities tested. So this time around there’s a lot more production on every track: bass lines, retro synths, guitar licks, extra vocals, different drum patterns and textures…
It took almost two years to pick the original songs reinterpreted here. Months of a musical journey which led towards a lot of music and influences from Guinea Bissau, which wasn’t a part of the first Meu Kamba. “With this second volume I want to close the cycle, finish a story: my hommage to music from Lusophone Africa.”
[:]