Izvorišta 404 - new afrobeat
Afrobeat. Just writing these eight letters together is enough to stir something in me. There is hardly a music genre that I don't like - after all, there is only good and bad music - but my relationship with afrobeat is special. It took me a while to discover it, but once it grabbed me, that was it. Afrobeat has everything I need - a good groove, socially engaged lyrics and a mantra, that wonderful repetition that has always been important to me in music.
Fela Kuti is Fela Kuti, Tony Allen is Tony Allen, but from the beginning I also loved new afrobeat artists. Most of them weren't from Africa; many didn't even have a single African musician in their band, but all of the ingredients were there- Fela's message was spreading and gaining a new dimension. With them, the genre continued to evolve, taking on new directions and forms, but retaining its spirit and freshness. New good afrobeat bands are popping up all the time, and in this mix I've included one song from several of them.
Most of what you will hear in the following hour has been released in the last two years. The artists come from Nigeria (Lagos Thugs, Bantu), Togo (Togo All Stars), England (Eparapo), Belgium (Alpacas Collective), Switzerland (Konkolo Orchestra) and France (Jumbo System, Balaphonics). Apart from being happy that there are so many good new bands, I'm also happy about the fact that all the songs in this mix have socially engaged lyrics. However trivial some of the messages may seem, you should consider whether they really are trivial. In the times we live in, no message against any form of oppression is trivial.
(you can also listen to this episode on mixcloud, just click here)
Tracklist:
Eparapo - My Beautiful City (feat Afla Sackey)
Lagos Thugs - Innocent Blood
Alpacas Collective - Big Words
Togo All Stars - Elayi
Bantu - Wayo And Division
Konkolo Orchestra - Blue &.
Jumbo System - Desperado
Balaphonics - I Bissimila
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