I was quiet for most of 2011 when it comes to releasing original music. To be honest, I was a bit hard on myself. I’m finally getting out of that muck, and feeling ready now. I’m planning to put out several releases this year, on Dutty Artz as well as branching out to other labels.

Please find details for my first release of 2012 below. Titled Dubious Prey, it comes out on limited vinyl January 30th, then a digital release with additional remixes shortly follows. London label Sticks N Stones is releasing it… SNS a small new label owned and operated by my friend Aramac, and distributed by ST Holdings. Artwork, tracklisting, YouTube and SoundCloud previews – all below.

artist: Lamin Fofana
title: Dubious Prey
label: Sticks N Stones Recordings (Distributed by S.T. Holdings, UK)
date: 30th January for vinyl / 27th February for digital

Vinyl
A – Brokedown City
A2 – Dubious Prey
B – Brokedown City (Aramac Remix)

Lamin Fofana ‘Dubious Prey’ EP 12″ Vinyl Preview – Out  January 30 by Sticks “N” Stones

Digital
1. Dubious Prey
2. Brokedown City
3. Brokedown City (Aramac Remix)
4. Brokedown City (Svpreme Fiend Mix)
5. Brokedown City (Mayster & Contakt Rebuild)
6. Brokedown City (La Ola Criminal Remix)

Yesterday, XLR8R premiered the first cut from Dubious Prey, “Brokedown City”

NYC-via-Sierra Leone DJ/producer and Dutty Artz affiliate Lamin Fofana is set to release a new EP, Dubious Prey, the follow-up to his 2010 debut EP, What Elijah Said. The new EP features two originals, including this one, “Brokedown City,” a dark but still active piece of techno with a steady four-on-the-floor. The song’s notably tropical percussion is buffeted by potent synth lines, which bleed in and out of the song, and a barely audible vocal sample that occasionally slips into the mix…

Head over there for the DOWNLOAD.

Enormous Room
567 Mass Ave
Central Square
Cambridge
9pm-1am
FREE!

In some DUTTY BIZNESS, XLR8R unleashed a track by Matthew Shadetek + Lamina Fofana. Matt works fast! He has three tracks on our recently released New York Tropical compilation. The man is a production wizard.

cover photograph by brendan bannon

What Elijah Said EP

01 Happy 2010 // Dark Days Are Coming
02 “I will admonish you and give you absolution”
03 What Elijah Said // Eye on the Devil
04 Dance In Yr Blood

Download here: Boomkat // iTunes // Turntable Lab // Amazon // eMusic // …/…

FREE MIX: #Calypso (or land of broken glass and the high world above manhattan)

Download “Dance In Yr Blood” for FREE at XLR8R

Head over to XLR8R for a free download of “Dance In Yr Blood” – first leak/bonus track from my EP What Elijah Said out September 21st.

Check out the website of photojournalist Brendan Bannon.  He is responsible for that incredible image that is my EP cover.

Janka Nabay & the Bubu Band / Unicornicopia / Banana Clipz (Chief Boima) / Telethon

Friday / September 10th / 8pm / $8

Silent Barn
915 Wyckoff Avenue
Ridgewood, NY

Alright, the first person to leave a comment naming one Banana Clipz track gets a pair of tickets to this party. That’s all.

Dutty Artz will release Lamin Fofana‘s debut EP What Elijah Said on September 21. Lamin has been steadily working on beats for the past few years, and he’s about to make a public birth.

When we asked him to describe the music, Lamin sent us this sentence: “Yet, he would refer to the Mother Plane, a mysterious space ship with superior beings, giant black gods or something like that, that patrolled the universe, keeping an eye on the devil and ready to rescue Black Muslims from Armageddon.” Sounds like sci-fi, but turns out it’s from the New York Times 1975 obituary (!) for Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad.

Everything is not what it seems, and this music’s mark of greatness is the way it so effortlessly calls for repeat listens.

What Elijah Said EP:

01 Happy 2010 // Dark Days Are Coming
02 “I will admonish you and give you absolution”
03 What Elijah Said // Eye on the Devil
04 Dance In Yr Blood

Artwork: Boy holding fluorescent bulb,  photo by Brendan Bannon, Dandora Dumpsite, Nairobi. 8/29/2006.   Hundreds of trash pickers scavenge the dump for food, plastic, glass, and metal. Areas of the dump smolder from a slow burn of plastics and detritus just under the surface. Local activist have attempted to close the site due to pollution concerns.

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Lamin Fofana  was born in the West African country of Guinea. When the political situation got bumpy, he moved to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where his routine involved listening to Goodie Mob and Organized Konfusion as well as attending Quranic schools/mosques. In 1997 Lamin’s family had to flee worsening conditions in Sierra Leone – losing friends, belongings, documents, a home. They spent several days crossing roads and bridges destroyed by rebels to prevent people from escaping. At the end of the year, Fofana found a new home in Harlem, New York, where he lives today.

Rumba sin Fronteras – Sergent Garcia
Techno Rumba (Matt Shadetek & dj /rupture Dutty Artz Remix)
Machete – Novalima
Angola (Carl Craig Remix) – Cesaria Evora
SOKINSIKARTEP (LP Version) – Osunlade
Umoja feat Kampi Moto (Original Mix) – Mzee
Mama (Chief Boima Techno Rumbita Remix) – Les Garagistes
Pata Pata (feat Lerato) – Matias Aguayo
Mario – Franco
Techno Rumba – Chief Boima
Agbaza Mimin – T.P. Polythmo
Rumba Cha Cha (Toy Selectah Refix) – Sonidero Nacional
Parkiando (Uproot Andy Ragu Mix) – Los Rakas
Señor Matanza – Mano Negra
Ombre-Elle – Gnawa Diffusion
Safari (Featuring Viviane Ndour) – Mokobe
Confession vs. Baile Aleman – Chief Boima
Indelible – Pearson Sound
Droit Chemin – Fally Ipupa
El Latino (Original Mix) – Basti Grub
El Tren featuring Corrales & Prince Nico Mbarga – The King Elio Boom
Techno Rumba (Uproot Andy Ojala Rumba Rmx)
Seka Seka – Mareshall DJ
Cuando Llegare – Amara Toure

Next Tuesday, April 27 Dutty Artz will release Techno Rumba, official debut EP from producer/DJ-extraordinaire Chief Boima. Techno Rumba is Boima’s elegant and fresh take on Afrobeat and contemporary African dance music. Head over to XLR8R now for an exclusive stream/preview of the entire EP – which features two original tracks from Chief Boima and a pair of remixes from Dutty Artz own DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek and Uproot Andy.

You can download DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek additional refix with original vocal contribution from performance artist Kalup Linzey.  Also downloadable is the free remix EP African By The Bay – to hold you over until Tuesday when Techno Rumba drops in digital shops.

Ahmed Janka Nabay – Eh Congo

Janka Nabay is a countryman of mine (which means he is from Sierra Leone, West Africa) with a very interesting backstory you can read on his MySpace.  I’m not fluent in Temni, but I understand what Janka is singing about in “Eh Congo.”  I spoke to him last year to confirm my interpretation and draw some connections, because the lyrics to this song sounded like a free association exercise (that’s what happens when you leave your home country and get lost/immerse in foreign culture –language, communication changes/words are forgotten.) I could write about the song’s lyrics, but I won’t –that will spoil the mystery, or just diminish the song’s already understated mystique.  After all, this is music/rhythms used to soundtrack rituals involving secret societies, coronations, burials of village chiefs and prominent society members. But I must say, that has nothing to do with the lyrics here, which makes it even more intriguing. Anyway, Ahmed Janka Nabay Bubu King is coming out soon True Panther. You can pre-order  a 12″ EP here.

Dutty Artz is proud to present The African By The Bay EP, an exclusive collection of irresistible remixes from San Francisco/Bay Area producer Chief Boima. The EP is available for free download, and features a healthy dose of Afro dance remixes and instrumental reworkings of songs by Birdman (“Money To Blow” feat. Drake and Lil Wayne), Akon (“Right Now”), The Jacka (“Glamorous Lifestyle” feat. Andre Nickatina), Fabo & T-Pain (“Own Step”)

African By The Bay EP is a potent batch of new stateside rap tunes given the remix treatment by Boima, our favorite African-American (in the Obama sense) producer, whose trail-blazing approach weds percussive patterns from sounds like Ivorian Coupe Decale and Senegalese Mbalax. (Not to mention Angolan Kuduro, Nigerian Club, and South African Kwaito, and his Sierra Leonean Highlife and Palm-Wine refix of Cold Flamez “Miss Me, Kiss Me”.)

African By The Bay (62 megabyte ZIP file), feel free to to download and re-post on your site.

01 Chief Boima – Shake Them Dreads
02 The Jacka – Glamorous Lifestyle feat. Andre Nickatina (Chief Boima Remix)
03 Sean Garrett – Smooches feat. Young Joc (Chief Boima Remix)
04 Birdman – Money To Blow feat. Drake and Lil Wayne (Chief Boima Remix)
05 Akon – Right Now (Nananana) (Chief Boima Mbalax Decale Remix)
06 YV – Own Step feat. T-Pain & Fabo (Chief Boima Remix)
07 Cold Flamez – Miss Me, Kiss Me (Chief Boima Remix)

File Under: Afrobeat, Hip-Hop, Dance & Electronic
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Chief Boima is a DJ, Musician, and Beat Composer on a mission to rep Africa like the World Cup in 2010. Boima is resident DJ at the Bay Area’s number one international club Baobab Village, where he regularly takes San Francisco’s residents around the world with global urban club sounds. Of mixed American and Sierra Leonean Heritage, Chief Boima blends the Hip Hop and Electronic Dance styles he absorbed as a youth growing up in the U.S. Midwest with the Afro Pop lineage passed down from his family.

For press photos on Flickr, click here.

……….

Chief Boima‘s Techno Rumba EP is coming out soon on Dutty Artz. It contains all new productions from Chief Boima and featuring a remix from DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek. The African By The Bay EP is a starter, so get ready.
Rita Indiana y Los Misterios EP is coming soon, be on the lookout; voodoo-punk-mambo, Dominican style.
La Yegros Trocitos de Madera EP – the first of a steady stream of digital-only releases on Dutty Artz is available now.

For more information please contact elizabeth.reversible@gmail.com

Ahmed Janka Nabay gets mentioned in a New York Times CMJ rundown;

There was also an African apparition: Janka Nabay from Sierra Leone, wearing a straw skirt and singing and dancing to recorded tracks of what he said was a 500-year-old tradition called bubu music. The tracks were modern, and the beat, fast and skeletal and driven by bell taps, was unstoppable, demanding wider dissemination.

listen to more audio from an interview Janka did with Straw vs Gold several months back.

[display_podcast]

LAMIN FOFANA – FATMATA WAS HERE

INGREDIENTS
Bvdub – Return To Tonglu
RHy-s on – 2
Bijan Mofid – Shahreh Ghesseh, I & II
Co$$ feat. Blu – Angelic
Jamie Vexd – In System Travel
Zomby – Tears in the Rain
Dred Man-Gi feat. Nell – Não Ta Se Entender
Kasai Allstars – Tshitua fuila mbuloba
King Midas Sound – Cool Out
Alpha Blondy – Jerusalem
Cauto – Despartar
G-Side – Alpine Tick

it’s here & here & here also – big up Dave, Chris, and thecrookedclef for the uppage. in between the multiple daily posts of other people’s stuff, i manage to patch together a series of sounds, and it runs deep! i made it a few weeks ago, recorded some of it at WFMU-FM, edit in Logic.

About two years ago, Papoose was a promising, young rapper with heavy street buzz (countless mixtapes, hot97-radio love, magazine/blog exposure, etc.) and a 1.5 million dollar record deal in the works with Jive Records.  Well, the deal fell through, and Pap bragged on subsequent tapes that he kept the 1.5 million from the label, but plans for his debut album The Nacirema Dream never actually materialized. Pap has been releasing mixtapes (and greatest hits from his previous tapes) and newer bits/leaks surfaced every now and then. On this particular track, he’s disgruntled, disgusted with the whole music industry and he’s letting his feelings known, keeping it one hundred/real (as “real” as rappers can keep it anyway.)

Papoose – I Just Want The Paper

Playaz Circle – Hold Up

I found this one on my desktop. Playaz Circle with (insert big name/famous rapper) is usually pretty good, but this is the first time I’m hearing the group without Lil Wayne, Ludacris, or OJ Da Juiceman and it’s surprisingly nice.

Chief Boima will be joining DJ Rupture, on what appears to be the 2nd anniversary of Mudd Up with DJ Rupture on WFMU this Monday, July 6th at 7PM. Chief Boima, an interesting, emerging voice in African diasporic music is based in San Francisco, California, where he organizes a weekly party Descendants United, and a monthly party The Highlife. He also produce music under his name, as well as in the groups Banana Clipz, Beaten By Them, and Chief y Chango. He will be discussing production influences and playing the sounds he’s currently into, everything from Ivorian Coupe Decale and Senegalese Hiphop and Mbalax to Nigerian Club, Angolan Kuduro, South African Kwaito, and the Sierra Leonean sounds he’s been specifically digging. Yeah, it’s a lot, so tune in!