Tag: afro pop

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nigerian-Greek Artist Ofili Shares Infectious Theme Song to Disney+’s “Rise”

33-year-old, Francis “Ofili” Adetokunbo is an emerging Lagos-born, Athens-based singer/songwriter and producer. And if you’re as big of a sports fan as I am, the last name may be dimly familiar for a reason: Adetokumbo is the oldest brother of Milwaukee Bucks‘ superstar forward/center Giannis Antetokounmpo (né Adetokunbo) and his three other professional basketball player brothers, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex.

Perhaps best known as a professional soccer player back in Nigeria — and as a semi-professional basketball player, Adetokunbo has spent the past decade creating original music that draws from Afrobeats, hip-hop and trap. Although he had been creating music for some time, Francis, who performs as Ofili, the name of his beloved grandfather, released his first official single a few years ago, after relocating to Athens.

Since his arrival in Athens, Adetokunbo has been busy releasing a series of singles including 2020’s “Shekosi,” which was released through Def Jam Greece; and last year’s “Like Giannis” with Moose and Negros Tou Moria, which was released through Sky Vector Music. Through the Athens-based imprint, he released “Count On U” and “On My Level” and the Rise EP, which features the title track “Rise” theme song to the Disney+ movie on his four younger, basketball player brothers, Rise.

Speaking of Rise — both the EP and the movie — the title track “Rise” is an infectious, hook-driven, genre-smashing bop featuring elements of Afrobeats, electro pop and dancehall that to my ears brings Nigerian superstar Burna Boy to mind. While being club and lounge friendly, “Rise” is centered around a powerful message of hope, resilience, dedication and familial love.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Two New Forward-Thinking Bangers from Congolese JOVM Mainstays KOKOKO!

Acclaimed Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo-based DIY electronic collective KOKOKO! is fueled by the growing spirit of protest and unrest among their hometown’s creatives and young people. Much like young people everywhere else, Kinshasa’s young people have openly questioned centuries’ old norms and taboos, and they’ve also openly denounced a society that they perceive as being paralyzed by fear — namely, the fear of inclusiveness and change.

The members of the collective and their counterparts in Kinshasa have challenged their society, its norms and its taboos with a fearless, in-your-face punk rock-like ethos. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising: The Congolese collective’s name literally means “KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!”

The collective views themselves as the sound and voice of a bold, defiant, new generation, about to kick down the doors and barge through while yelling “OUR TIME IS NOW!”

Their creative process is largely centered around the notion that poverty and the desperately urgent need to survive often fuels wild, boundary pushing creativity. Because of limited resources and limited access to instruments and recording gear, the Kinshasa-based collective operates in a largely DIY fashion out of necessity: They create self-designed and self-made instruments made from recycled and reclaimed flotsam and jetsam and bits of recovered junk. They even built a recording studio out of old mattresses, reclaimed wood and an old ping-pong table.

With the release of 2019’s critically applauded, boundary-pushing full-length debut, Fongola the Congolese collective exploded into the international scene while establishing a difficult to pigeonhole sound featuring elements of disco, post-punk, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, Afro-futurism and the region’s folkloric styles and rhythms.

Since the release of their applauded full-length debut, the acclaimed Congolese outfit have been busy touring internationally while writing and recording material, which will hopefully appear on the act’s forthcoming — and highly-anticipated — follow-up to Fongola. In the meantime, the JOVM mainstays have released two new singles:

“Polo Munreni:” Featuring skittering beats, layers of oscillating synths, call and response vocals paired with an enormous, shout-along worthy hook, “Polo Munreni” continues a run of dancehall-influenced, club friendly bangers that should inspire even the most rhythmically unaware to get on the dance floor and wine down with some pretty young thing.

“Nassanilini:” Featuring double-timed, military like thump, skittering percussion, glitchy synths and shouted vocals “Nassanilini” is a post apocalyptic banger, centered around an irresistibly frenetic energy.

“Our new tracks are represented both on the record and stage by the duo of ‘The Lingwala Devil’ Makara Bianko and ‘The Mysterious’ Débruit,” the collective explains in press notes. “More electronic and percussive, they focus on the night time atmospheres of Kinshasa – filled with energy and everything from the equipment to the sound system pushed to their limit. With amps smoking, wires melting and the crowd losing it. It’s a huge truck coming forward at you. Elongi na Elongi – face to face!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Led by frontperson Amai Kuda, the rising Toronto-based collective Amai Kuda Et Les Bois has honed and developed a reputation for crafting genre-defying music about healing — ourselves, our society and Mother Earth — with an interwoven spiritual element throughout: Their live shows and recording sessions always begin with the pouring of libations and the invocation of the ancestors.

The Canadian collective’s full-length debut, Sand from the Sea was released to praise from Nicholas Jennings, Canada’s foremost music journalist, who named the album “one of the year’s most exciting discoveries.” Since then, the members of Amai Kuda et Les Bois have been extremely busy: they’ve collaborated with Dead Prez’s M1 on “We Can Do It,” a conscious, call-to-action song.

Adding to a growing profile in Canada and elsewhere, the genre-defying outfit has opened for Joel Plaskett, Kellylee Evans, and Sarah Slean. They’ve been featured in NOW Magazine and CBC’s Canada Live and Big City Small World. 2019’s “Holding Back” with Version Xcursion premiered on Strombo Show. They’ve also received nominations for Best Song and Best Folk/Roots Awards at the Toronto Independent Music Awards — with a win for Best Folk/Roots.

They’ve played shows at some of the Toronto’s best known venues including the Oakville Centre for Performing Arts, Jane Mallett Theatre, Harbourfront, The Rivoli, as well as festivals like Luminato, Kultrun, and Small World. And lastly, they’ve toured and played shows on four of the world’s seven continents.

The Toronto-based collective’s newest album, the Jimmy Kiddo co-produced EmUrgency is slated for release this fall. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Quantum Vox Music, EmUrgency draws from — and reflects — Kuda’s eclectic and vast influences both musically and personally including Afro-House, Motown, alt-rock, hip-hop and downtempo electronica. as well as her Trinidadian heritage and Toronto upbringing.

Thematically, the album is rooted in and speaks the struggles, joys and hard-fought wisdom of Kuda’s life journey: In particular, being guided by the ancestors and Orishas, and staying true to her calling as a mother, healer, warrior and artist — despite the countless obstacles facing Black, queer women in both the music industry and society. The album’s material also digs deep into African Indigenous spiritual traditions — through connecting with the gods and deities of Yoruba cosmology, as well as the anti-colonial war for survival, unconditional love, honoring the elders, as well as caring for and preserving your inner child in times of struggle. If that doesn’t sound necessary and restorative, nothing is in my book.

EmUrgency‘s latest single “Oshun” derives its title from the Yoruba orisha (deity) of sweet water, which includes all rivers, lakes and streams. Centered around African polyrhythm and what sounds like twinkling vibraphone and Kuda’s unique delivery, which alternates between coquettish, plaintive and righteous within a turn of a phrase, “Oshun” is a club banger that’s indebted to the contempoary sounds of the motherland, in particular Afrobeats, Afro-House and Afro-pop. At its core, the song’s narrator pleads to the deity for the good and sweet things in life that have been denied to her — love, sweetness, beauty, money and so on.

“Joy, love, beauty, magic and riches are all her domain. She is also a fearsome warrior,” Amai Kuda explains. “We give thanks to her for all the sweet things and bounty in life, and also call upon her for help in matters of love or money. This praise song for her was born on the shores of her waters and is a gift both from and for her.“

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Vincent Bugozi Shares a Summery Banger

Vincent Bugozi is a Tanzanian-born, London-based artist and bandleader. Along with his backing band, Bugozi specializes in a genre-defying and infectious take on Afro Pop that meshes elements of of Afrobeat, reggae, Afro-Cuban music and pop among others. The Tanzanian-born, London-based artist and his backing band aim to combine the sounds of different cultures to connect people through music and an energetic live show — and help bring positivity and unity in a world that desperately needs it.

Bugozi and company will be releasing their latest album AFRICAN SEBA! later this year. Inspired by Tanzanian Tinga Tinga art, AFRICAN SEBA! sees the act drawing inspiration from an eclectic array of sources and collaborating with a collection of musicians from the United Kingdom and European Union, while still creating music deeply rooted din the sounds and styles of Africa. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon the big themes — love, sorrow and joy while being his first multilingual album.

AFRICAN SEBA!‘s first single, the breezy and summery “Tinga Tinga” is a genre-defying, club banger featuring skittering dancehall-meet-trap beats, 80s Quiet Storm soul-like saxophone and twinkling keys paired with Bugozi’s plaintive vocals and an infectious, razor sharp hook. While pulling from sounds across the African Diaspora, “Tinga Tinga” manages to be distinctly African while simultaneously being and pop-leaning, accessible banger that will get a lounge and/or a club rocking and grooving.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Toronto’s 148 Share Flirtatious and Feel Good Bop “Topeka Vibe”

Nigerian-born, Toronto-based indie pop duo 148 — Tudo Bem and McQueen — spent their formative years watching MTV, which allowed them to embrace a multitude of genres and styles of music. Their willingness to explore and play with genre conventions, as well as embracing their own vulnerability in order to take risks, learn and improve upon their songwriting is at the core of their sound and approach.

As a group, the duo is rooted in a simple principle: a belief that we all should strive to be who we truly are, rather than view ourselves through the lens of others.

The duo’s recently released full-length effort, Sampati derives its title from an old Hindu tale of two brothers who challenged each other to see, who could fly closest to the sun: The elder brother Sampati ends up risking his life to shield his younger brother, Jatayu from the sun’s flames. While Sampati’s sacrifice costs him the ability to fly, it also saves Jatayu’s life — and Jatayu goes on to a play a crucial part in the grand scheme of things. For the duo, the story brings up a number of questions. including: if you knew that there was a high possibility of failure, would you attempt the impossible? According to the duo, they’d always answer yes. Failure brings the opportunity to learn — and with the help of friends and family, the potential of a speedy recovery. The duo add that the album is the culmination of everything they’ve learned over the past six years or so.

Sampati‘s latest single “Topeka Vibe” is a breezy and slick mix of R&B, hip-hop, Afrobeats, Afro pop, dancehall and soca centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats paired with a soulful horn solo as a silky Quiet Storm-inspired bed for McQueen’s easygoing and flirtatious bars and Bem’s gently autotuned crooning for the song’s infectious hook. Managing to be both club and lounge friendly, “Topeka Vibe” is a summery chilled-out bop that’s one-part balling out at the club ’cause you just got paid — and one-part, chilling out with that pretty young thing that you just can’t resist. But just under the surface, there’s a subtle bittersweet sensation: the realization that nothing lasts forever, perhaps?

Directed by 148’s Tudo Bem, the cinematically shot, accompanying video is split into several sequences set in and around Topeka Drive, just outside of Toronto: we see the members of 148 in a local playground flashing cash and goofing off. We see the duo flirting with and hitting on one of the most beautiful sisters I’ve seen in some time. And we see the duo playing in a club. It’s playful yet endearingly sweet.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mariaa Siga Shares a Swooning Ode to Motherhood

Mariaa Siga (born Mariama Siga Goudiaby) is a Senegalese singer/songwriter, who can trace the origins of her music career to winning a local talent show and catching the attention of acclaimed Senegalese act Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc’s frontperson mentored the young Goudiaby, helping her refine her style and further develop her musical skills. Shortly after that, Goudiaby landed a role in Mon Réve, a film which aired on RDV. 

As a musician, Goudiaby was long accustomed to the traditional rhythms of the Casamance region of Southern Senegal; but her curiosity led her to discover and experiment with Western styles including the blues and jazz, which she incorporates into her own work. 

In 2016, she was one of the winners of the Festival des Vielles Pirogues‘ Tremplin competition. Building upon that momentum, she released two singles the following year, “Ya sama none” and “Asekaw.” Building upon a growing profile, the Senegalese artist performed in her native Casamance for the first time with a set at 2018’s Kayissen Festival. That same year, Yoro Ndiyae featured Goudiaby on his Sunu Folk compilation. She capped off a big 2018 with a French tour that November.

Goudiaby’s full-length debut released her full-length debut Asekaw (which translates as “woman” in her native Diola) back in 2019. That year, she won Baco Records‘ One Riddim Contest, which led to sets at Morocco’s Festival MarcoFoiles, France’s Midem Festival and to an invite to play Quebec’s Festival Mondial des Femmes d’Ici et d’Ailleurs. 

I’ve previously written about “Lagne Boote,” which in Goudiaby’s native Diola translates to “back to basics.” Recorded at Vagh and Weinmann Studio in Salernes, France — with the support of the African Culture Fund, the breezy and infectious “Lagne Boote” was centered around shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, shuffling African polyrhythm and Goudiaby’s gorgeous and expressive vocal. The song manages to incorporate sounds across the African Diaspora including Afropop, soca, roots reggae and more. But at its core is a powerful and simple message imploring the listening to never forget their roots.

The breezy and infectious “Lagne Boote” is centered around shimmering and looping acoustic guitar, shuffling African polyrhythm and Goudaiby’s gorgeous, expressive vocals subtly hints at sounds across the African Diaspora, including Afropop, soca, roots reggae and others. But at its core is a powerful message to listeners imploring them to never forget their roots. “When you get lost and don’t know where you’re going, go back to your sources,” Goudiaby explains. 

Goudiaby’s latest single “Sama Nene” is a deeply contented sigh centered around a shuffling reggae riddim produced by Artikal Band‘s Asha D paired with the Senegalese’s gorgeous, expressive vocals singing lyrics in Wolof and French. Written and recorded while she was pregnant with her son, “Sama Nene” the song details the excitement and love she feels for her child.

The rising Senegalese artist wants to show women that it’s possible to lead a life as a woman artist — and as a mother, without having to give up her career and her dreams.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: N’Faly Kouyaté Teams Up with Tiken Jah Fakoly on a Socially Relevant Banger

Throughout his lengthy musical career Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist N’Faly Kouyaté has bridged the modern and the ancient, and Africa and the West: Kouyaté received a very traditional and rigorous Guinean musical education. He eventually relocated to Belgium, where he received conservatory training.

Inspired by Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte and a long list of others, the Guinean-born, Belgian-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has managed to collaborate with an eclectic array of acclaimed artists including Peter Gabriel, William Kentridge, Phil Manzanera, Ray Phiri and others. But he may be best known for his work with groundbreaking, genre-defying and Grammy Award-nominated act Afro Celt Sound System.

The acclaimed singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist will be releasing a new album — and that album sees Kouyaté developing a new genre, Afrotonix, which mixes polyphony, electronic production and traditional African instruments like the kora, the balafon and percussion. The album’s first single “Free Water,” which features a guest spot from Tiken Jah Fakoly is a slick synthesis of the modern and traditional: modern electronic production featuring wobbling, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and traditional Guinean instrumentation paired with a vitally necessary message — water is life for all of us.

The accompanying video reminds then viewer of water’s importance to all of us — from drinking, bathing, our food and so on. But it also gives the viewer a glimpse of daily life in beautiful Guinea and scenes from the studio.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Guiss Guiss Bou Bess Teams up with ISS814 on a Heady Mix of African Diaspora Music

Sabar is a beloved and traditional folk music, played with a sabar, a traditional drum, generally played with one hand and a stick, throughout Senegal and The Republic of The Gambia. Most often you’d hear the style at weddings and other special celebrations.

Guiss Guiss Bou Bess—Mara Seck, Aba Diop, and Stephane Costantini — is a Dakar, Senegal-based act with some bonafide credentials:

  • Mara Sack is the son of beloved griot and musician Alla Seck.
  • Aba Diop is a rising sabar percussionist, from a family with a deep lineage with the instrument.
  • Stephane Constanti is a producer with extensive knowledge and experience in electronic music and drum ‘n’ bass.

Since their formation, the Senegalese trio have attempted to modernize the ancient and beloved sabar style, creating what they’ve dubbed Electro Sabar, a mix of ritual percussion, trap, dubstep, UK garage, drum ‘n’ bass, bass house, Afrobass and kuduro that manages to simultaneously respect Senegalese traditions while being inspired by the bustling, exuberant, working class neighborhoods of their hometown.

Back in March, opposition Ousmane Sonko was arrested for rape allegations. His arrest led to ongoing mass protests, demonstrations and riots across the country, which has left more than 13 dead. Mackay Sall, Senegal’s President has responded with restrictions to Internet, social media and other other forms of expression and communication as a way to curb protests.

Coincidentally, the Senegalese trio’s latest single “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” off their album Set Sela manages to be remarkably timely: Featuring Senegalese emcee ISS814, “Sunu Gal,” as the band explains was written for their homeland’s young people: Partially written as a loving ode to Senegalese culture and values, the song sees the collaborators calling for their homeland’s young people to peacefully protest, while demanding that the government respect and honor the rights and concerns of its people.

Sonically, “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” is a heady and slickly produced mix of traditional rhythms and instrumentation, skittering trap hi-hat, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, dialogue, traditional chants and some fiery and dexterous bars delivered in French and local dialects — presumably Wolof. While obviously being a meeting across the African Diaspora, the song is a powerful reminder that hip-hop is the lingua franca of young people across the globe.

Directed by Jean-Baptiste Joire, the vidoe for “Sunu Gal (La Pirogue)” is a gorgeously shot glimpse into daily life in Senegal with a playful and fantastical bent, before heading to the club, where we see dancers doing a mix of traditional and modern steps to the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Emerging Artist Mighty Koba Releases a Summery Club Banger

Mighty Koba is an emerging and somewhat mysterious Cameroonian-American singer/songwriter. His latest single “Whine Poko” sees the emerging artist seamlessly bridging multiple cultures and styles with a slick and breezy dance floor friendly production featuring elements of Afrobeat, Afropop, reggae, dancehall and soca paired with an infectious, razor sharp hook.

With the temperatures dropping a bit here in the Northeast as we push further into Fall, “Whine Poko” at the moment is simultaneously, a nostalgic blast of summer and the sort of song you want to wine down with that pretty young thing at the club.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Kinshasa-Based Collective KOKOKO! Releases a New Banger

Led by Makara Biano and prolific French producer débruit, the pioneering and acclaimed Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo-based DIY electronic collective KOKOKO! is fueled by growing spirit of protest and unrest among their hometown’s young people. And much like young people across the globe, Kinshasa’s young people have begun to openly question centuries’ old norms and taboos, and they’ve openly begun to denounce a society that they perceive as being paralyzed by fear — namely,. the fear of inclusiveness and much-needed change.

The collective and their local counterparts have done this with a fearless in-your-face, punk rock sort of ethos. This isn’t surprising: the acclaimed Congolese collective’s name literally means KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! — with the collective viewing themselves as the sound and voice of a bold, new generation defiantly banging on the doors and walls, yelling out “OUR TIME IS NOW!”

The Kinshasa-based collective’s creative processes are centered around the notion that poverty and the desperately urgent need to survive often fuels wild creativity. And unsurprisingly, they operate in a wildly inventive DIY fashion, creating self-designed and self-made instrument made from recycled and reclaimed flotsam and jetsam and recovered junk. They even built a recording studio out of old mattresses, reclaimed wood and an old ping-one table.

The collective exploded into the national and international scenes with their critically applauded, full-length debut 2019’s FONGOLA was a forward-thinking, urgent effort featuring a difficult to pigeonhole, global orientated sound with elements of disco, post-punk, hip-hop, reggae, retro-futuristic funk, Afro-futurism and the region’s traditional folkloric sounds. The end result, was a sound that seemed to come from an alien yet familiar, near-dystopian future like our own, where the ghetto and the club where one and the same.

The Kinshasa-based collective’s latests ginned “Donne Moi,” is the first bit of new material since their full-length debut. Featured on the soundtrack of FIFA 22, “Donne Moi” sees the act expanding upon their forward-thinking, sound: while still pairing their handmade instruments with electronic production, the new single is a percussive, house music leaning club banger centered around chanted and shouted call and response vocals, rousingly anthemic hooks.

“We recorded ‘Donne Moi’ in Brussels just before the pandemic hit, and we are happy it’s finally seeing a release. The song is about giving back. Giving, as well as receiving, shouldn’t be always one way.”

The collective is currently working on new material, which is slated for release next year.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Rising Burundian-Tanzanian Artist Young Spit Releases a Summery Banger

Niyomwungere Eric is rising 24 year-old Burundian-Tanzanian singer/rapper, whose family emigrated to the States when he was a child. Best known to the world as Young Spit, the Burundian-Tanzanian artist rose to prominence with the release of his first two singles “Shanna” and “Cinderella,” which appeared on his full-length length debut, last year’s Era 257. Those early singles and his debut found the young artist quickly establishing his unique sound, a mesh of Afro pop, Caribbean music and hip-hop paired with lyrics that draw from his personal experiences.

Clocking in at a smidge under three minutes, Era 257’s latest single “Uwanje” is a summery banger that’s both club and radio friendly — while drawing from an eclectic array of influences: the song manages to mesh trap, contemporary pop and R&B and dancehall as it prominently features twinkling synth arpeggios, skittering tweeter and woofer rocking beats, brief blasts of squiggling horns, a scorching guitar solo and the rising Burundian-Tanzanian artist’s gently Autotuned yet expressive vocals. But underneath the glossy swagger, the song is actually a tender and very sweet love song that gives it a subtle Quiet Storm vibe.

Directed by the rising Burundian-Tanzanian artist, shot by 21G productions and edited by Easy.Cuts, the recently released video for “Uwanje” is part behind-the-scenes-like footage of a photo shoot with the rising artist and some beautiful women split with footage of Young Spit rocking out to the song. The video has a playful charm that’s as infectious as the song itself.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live footage: Mariaa Siga Performs “Weetay” at Vagh & Weinmann Music

Born Mariama Siga Goudiaby, singer/songwriter Mariaa Siga hails from the Casamance region of Southern Senegal. Back in 2009, Gouidaby won a local talent show and the attention of Senegalese act Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc’s frontperson mentored the young Goudiaby, helping her refine her style and further develop her musical skills. The next year, Siga landed a role in Mon Réve, a film which aired on the national TV network RDV. 

As a musician, Goudiaby grew up with the traditional rhythms of Casamance but curiosity led there to discover and experiment with more Western styles in her work including the blues and jazz. In 2016, the rising Senegalese artist was a winner of the Festival des Vielles Pirogues‘ Tremplin competition. Building upon the growing buzz surrounding her, she released two singles “Ya sama none” and “Asekaw,” the following year.

2018 saw Goudiaby perform in Casamance for the first time with a set at that year’s Kaiyssen Festival. Yoro Ndiyae featured Goudiaby on his Sunu Folk compilation. And she capped off a big year with a French tour in November. Late last year, the Senegalese artist released “Lagne Boote,” a breezy and infectious song that subtly hinted at soca and other Caribbean sounds paired with Afro pop that reminds the listener to never forget their roots. “When you get lost and don’t know where you’re going, go back to your sources,” Goudiaby explained in press notes.

Goudiaby and her backing band recently released a live, acoustic version of Asekaw album single “Weetay,” which translates into “loneliness” was filmed and recorded at Vagh & Weinmann Music in Salernes, France. Filmed in a single take to replicate the conditions of a live concert, the stripped down version of “Weetay” is centered around shimmering acoustic guitar and Siga’s gorgeous vocals, which manage to express desperate loneliness.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Jujuboy Star Releases a Summery Club Banger

Osaretin Rock Akhib is a 25 year-old Nigerian singer/songwriter and producer, best known as Jujuboy Star. Hailing from the the same city in Edo State as contemporaries Rema and Santi, the Nigerian singer/songwriter and producer can trace the origins of his music career to joining the local church choir when he turned eight. As a teenager, he learned about music production from a neighbor — and by the time he was 16, he was producing his own beats at his grandmother’s house, using Fruity Loops and a USB mic.

From those rather humble beginnings, Jujuboy Star has gone to collaborate with Jidenna, Adekunle Gold, Simi, Gospelonthebeatz. Seyi Shay and a lengthy list of others. Adding to a growing profile, the Edo State, Nigeria-based artist has become the first artist to be signed to the recently formed partnership between Aristokrat Records, the Nigerian entertainment company that discovered and developed international superstar Burna Boy and Universal Records. “Juju is by far one of the most exciting artists I’ve come across over the past decade and represents the next generation of African superstars,” Aristokrat Records founder and CEO Priye Isokari says in press notes. “We are glad to finally be introducing him to the world.”

Quickly following up on “I Dey There,” the rising Nigerian artist’s latest single, the Kel-P-produced “Enjoyment” is a sexy, feel-good club anthem centered around a slick production that meshes elements of Afrobeats, R&B and reggae: the listener will hear skittering and shuffling polyrhythm, squiggling synths, warm blasts of Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar, a strutting bass line paired with Jujuboy’s self-assured yet achingly vulnerable vocals. To me, it’s the sort of song that you’d likely hear in the club while you’re trying to pick up that pretty young thing.

Directed by Earthboi, the recently released video for “Enjoyment” follows the rising Nigerian artist as he wakes up bleary-eyed and staggering from a wild house party with some of the most beautiful Black people I’ve ever set eyes on — including a gold clad woman, who plays the stunning love interest.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

The Republic of Djibouti is a small country located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somaliland to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea to the north and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to the east. Interestingly, on the eve of the small East African country’s independence, a densely packed archive was pieced together in a quiet corner of the national radio. And over the years, it became an outstanding yet largely unknown archive that housed thousands of master reels and cassettes of some of the region’s finest sounds.

The archive has survived and endured fires and even theft of invaluable recordings. Those scars linger on the delicate films of quarter-inch reels and cassette tapes. And yet, it remains one for he most expansive, well-maintained archives in Africa — but it’s simultaneously been one of the most restrictive: for decades, the archives remained off-limits to foreign entities of any kind until 2019.

As Ostinato Records explains in press notes, they operate on the guiding principle that no physical historic recordings should leave a country and agreements with archives should be a win-win trade, not aid. Part of the deal for archival across and licensing rights included a finely refurbished Technics reel-to-real player from the ’70s with upgraded software to replace a worn-out model for RTD to continue their digital preservation of the entire archive in high quality.

Although it took several years of negotiations Ostinato Records became the first label granted access stop the archives of Radiodiffusion-Télevision de Djibouti (RTD), a vault of secrets and stories from East Africa, including Somalia, Ethiopia, and of course Djibouti.

Somali supergroup 4 Mars, the act behind one of the most popular songs on their Grammy-nominated Sweet As Broken Dates compilation is the first chapter of their “Djibouti Archives” because of their incredibly rich, globalized sound reveals a new history of the world — and of music. For centuries, all roads lead to Horn of Africa. As a a major port and transit point connecting African, Asia and the Mediterranean, goods, ideas, foods, people and culture were briskly exchanged: Musically, Egyptian, Turkish, Arab, Persian, Indian and Chinese traders and tastemakers dropped anchor in Djibouti’s Gulf of Tadjoura, with each arrival influencing the region’s sound and aesthetic.

Today, a third of all world trade passes through Djibouti’s straits and a similar mix of diverse and eclectic characters roam the streets and docks. Reportedly, a South African diplomat pointed to Djibouti and told the folks at Ostinato “This is the future.” But for the sake of this post, let’s talk about 4 Mars. 4 Mars offers a bright window into Djibouti’s past, when the country was starting from scratch. Their name — Quatre Mars in French — refers to March 4, 1977, the founding date of The People’s Rally for Progress, the political party in charge of the small East African country since its independence. And interestingly enough, 4 Mars was the party’s band.

New countries are in desperate need of unity — and of unifying ideals. The country’s leaders saw music, and 4 Mars especially, as the ideal soundtrack to an independent era. Almost all music was brought under the state’s wing. But interestingly enough, it wasn’t propaganda music — not in the sense as we would understand it. Music was seen as a way of quickly building a national identity and to instill values. And acts like 4 Mars were seen as having a key role in nurturing and teaching a new nation.

4 Mars is largely unknown outside of Horn of Africa region because it was a massive 40 member entourage featuring actors, singers, dancers, musicians and percussionists. Only super wealthy leaders like Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi could invite them to tour. But in Djibouti, they played at the once-lavish national theater, developing a reputation for amazing live shows, some of which were recorded by RTD.

Slated for a February 19, 2021 release globally and a February 26, 2021 release in the States, (Djibouti Archives Vol. 1) Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura: 4 Mars was authorized by booth RTD and The Palace of the People, which founded and overseas 4 Mars. Compiled from master tapes and reels recorded at RTD Studios and from live performances at the national theater between 1977 and 1994, this collection is a seminal anthology that offers a perspective shifting journey through East Africa.

So, to build up buzz for the compilation Ostinato Records released three singles off the compilation — “Hoblaayeey Nabadu! (Hello Peace!),” “Dhulka Hooyo (Motherland)” and “Aabo Usha Noohaay (Father Hold the Stick for Us).” These three tracks are a wonderful example of 4 Mars’ sound — a sound in which disparate and eclectic sound and ideas mesh into something familiar yet completely new. The songs are a heady and mind-bending mesh of Afrobeat and Bollywood-inspired vocals, shuffling off-beat reggae licks, which some will argue came from Jamaican reggae while others will say come from Somali Dhaanto rhythm, Egyptian and Yemeni rhythms, Sudanese song structures, American jazz and funk-inspired horn lines, Turkish-inspired synth melodies, Egyptian and Yemeni rhythms and so on delivered with a feverish intensity and urgency.

While the material has an old and dusty analog sound, it’s a bright vision of a genre-less, border-less future ruled by the exchange of ideas and sounds and drive by funky groove — 40 years before anyone here dreamt of it. Djibouti past and is the world’s future, indeed.




Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Doubleheader is a new collaborative project between Arthur Comeau, a musician and producer, who has released material as Radio Radio, Nom de Plume and under his own name — and multi-instrumentalist, producer and arranger Jean Massicotte, who has worked with Patrick Wilson, Jean Leloup, Lhasa, Arthur H, Alejandra Ribera and a lengthy list of others. Doubleheader finds the acclaimed musicians and producers blending a wild mix of ideas, genres and sounds — including beatmaking, DJinng, hip-hop, worldbeat, pop and others — as aa way of showing the world what pop music can feel and sound like in the 2020s and beyond, continuing artist’s push towards a genre-defying and genre-less world. But more Importantly, their sound and approach is specifically crafted to be a reflection of the world we should be aspiring to — a multicultural world that celebrates diversity in all of its forms.

The Montreal-based act’s 10 song, full-length debut Slim Wall finds the duo collaborating with an equally accomplished collection of Canadian vocalists including 2020 Juno Award-winning artist Dominque Fils-Aimé, 2019 AFRIMA Award-winning artist AfrotroniX, 2020 Juno Award-winner Djely Tapa, Samito, EIDHZ, Quentin Hatfield and TEKE: TEKE’s Maya Kuroki to create material that eschews genre and language constraints in an interesting yet accessible fashion.

Acclaimed Malian-Canadian artist Djely Tapa contributes achingly plaintive and evocative vocals to Slim Wall single “Djanto,’ a track which pairs shimmering acoustic guitar with skittering beats, twinkling synth arpeggios and a soaring hook in a slickly produced club banger that finds the members of Doubleheader meshing elements of reggaeton and Afro pop. But underneath the club friendly, tweeter and woofer rocking thump, the song is centered by a thoughtful and important message: taking care of nature involves protecting both animal and human life.