So this Thursday, January 27th, Chief Boima and yours truly, along some good friends from Garbon, Ivory Coast, and Madgascar will kick off a new party in the southeastern part of Manhattan Island (a neighborhood commonly referred to as the Lower East Side of Manhattan borough) at Gallery Bar (art gallery by day, and lounge/party space when its dark.) We’ll be joined by very special guest, founder of Akwaaba Music and DJ, BBrave. Facebook RSVP.
Going Africa and Beyond. Though I won’t be popping champagne like my Ghanaian brothers Ruff-N-Smooth (they have all the money and the honeys!) I will be playing their music.
I’m in the near south with family and friends observing yet another fucked up and annoying holiday – this one associated with the genocide of indigenous Americans. While unpacking my bags after the journey, and thinking about stuffing and delicious chocolate and pecan pies, I turned on a new mix from a trio of young, Afrocentric DJs – Crowdkrushers, from the south of Germany – a town called Tübingen. The mix was commissioned by Akwaaba Music to celebrate the netlabel’s second anniversary. It’s been two years already! Although I have lost count of the releases, Akwaaba remains consistent and continues to exposed us to some amazing music. So enjoy this mix, containing a healthy dose of fine Akwaaba Music.
A word from Crowdcrushers – “So this is our exclusive mix for Akwaaba Music. It‘s not so much all new and exclusive bangers but rather our impression of African music and its big influences on other musical territories (with one or two stylistic exceptions in the mix). We also kinda tried to give an idea of what we do in our club sets, not paying too much attention to tempo or style while keeping it funky and a wee bit humorous… Featuring Akwaaba artists Appietus, Ruff‘n‘Smooth, Kedjevara, Onyenze, Killamu, Dred Man-Gi and Arc Djebe. Hope you enjoy!”
I first heard this tune at a party in the Bronx, Summer 2005 or maybe ’06– I don’t remember exactly. Big up all Ghanaian massive in the Bronx. I can recall a friend telling me at the time that “You May Kiss Your Bride” was a smash in Accra, on the radio, in bars and clubs, at football marches, and of course at weddings. This clip also appears on a VCD compilation titled Ghana Vs Nigeria: Super Hits Videos –purchased in a street market in Freetown in December ’09. By the way, if you dig this track don’t sleep on Akwaaba Music’s Move It Chaleh — more recent hiplife goodness among other things (like Monou Sidibe’s incredible “Mali Mousso.”)
Wayne killed it last night at Que Bajo?! – Reggaeton book release afterparty, and introduced me to a bunch of people – one filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi just made a film (look up 4 di preview) about the Ghanian hiplife group V.I.P. (Vision in Progress) titled Home Grown: HipLife In Ghana and it has already been screened from New York to Los Angeles.
The first sub-Saharan African country to get independence in the 1950s head to the polls today to vote for a new president and parliament. Well, if you’re sick of the Obama-Memorabilia overkill, readjust your binoculars and take a look at this; Two young men with bodies painted in striking campaigning colors were spotted in the streets of Accra entertaining commuters and raising personal funds. Pictures of men with their bodies painted with party colors, it seems, is a top visual choice for many internet news sites.
