ok so im into french rap and african music and I would like some tips about good international artists basically from the english, french and portuguise speaking countries.... Because right now my thoughts are alla screwed up and its always fun to check out some new stuffs!
yeah try Old Dirty b*stard...I saw him on MTV2 and I didnt understand a word he was saying......it couldnt have been English.
I forgot to give you some nice artists: french rap/hip hop: 113, mafia k1 fry, lunatic, booba if u want some hardcore and underground rap and arsenik, pit baccardi, dadoo, gomez et dubois if u want some basic and more comersiel rap. west african music: fela kuti (nigeria), salif keita (mali), oumou sangaré (mali), baaba maal (senegal) and daddy lumba from ghana. west india: just type zouk
I have zero experience with this sort of music, but from what little I've read, this is the first one I'd check out.
FELA KUTI!!! - its a shame that more people dont know his music. he's the african james brown (but i like fela better). ginger baker of cream recorded an album w/ him. king sunny ade - west african pop. they call it juju music. paul simon's graceland is basically a rip-off of this style. savath and savallas - spanish jazzy pop. like if tortoise had played on miles davis' sketches of spain and brought in female singers. very pleasant listening. ethiopiques - ethiopian jazz-funk-soul-pop. there's about 15 volumes of this stuff that was recorded in the 70's. its all really good, but standouts are volumes 1, 3, 4 and 8. anything w/ a woman named muluqen mellesse or a dude named mahmoud ahmed. os mutantes - 60's brazillian psychedllia. heavily influnced by sgt. pepper. caetano veloso, jorge ben, tom ze, gilberto gil - more brazillian pop-its all good. augustus pablo - the master of the melodica. jamaican roots-dub. very uplifting mon!
Good choice, but if you want "Graceland", why not go with teh group that he worked with -- Ladysmith Black Mambazo. As for African hiplife music (African hip hop), check out Akyeame. Some great stuff there.
Great call. Fela is the man! The undisputed king of afrobeat. I love his stuff although some or most of his songs are a bit long. His son Femi Kuti records music that is similar to Fela but with a modern twist. I saw Femi play in San Francisco. Great show. And he has an album he recorded with the Roots For french artist, try Manu Chao. Or his former band Mano Negra. I am not sure how to describe his music but he sings in French English and Spanish, plays guitar and uses interesting samples. Check it out. Here is another group from france Aldo Romano, Louis Sclavis, Henri Texier, Guy Le Querrec they actually traveled to Africa and were inspired to make an album they named Suite Africane.
im checking them out right now. i love rhapsody! the first tune has that accappela stuff like "diamonds on the soles of her shoes" or "homeless". me like - thanks!
i like femi too. sometimes its hard to tell him apart from his dad. have you heard antibalas afrobeat orchestra out of nyc? fela traditionalists and very good at it. i saw them at coachella this year and they are playing austin city limits in september. larry bird would be suprised to see all the white people in the group.
Normaly I should have been able to help you as I AM French and I live IN Africa, but unfortunatly I'm not into rap or African beat. But I'll try to help you... ALA
Try: -TeTe(more of an RnB french music) -Magic sound syteme(African beat) -Nuttea(see TeTe) That's all I have for now... ALA
I took a class on African "pop" music this fall. I believe I have my notes at home (I'm stuck at work right now). I'll see waht info I can find, my prof was from Ghana and had LOTS of cool music.
My family owns a store that sells Putamayo music, and it does well, but I don't think it's that great personally. I understand they're limited by what artists will actually agree to be on the CD, but it seems like the music isn't always a great representation of the music from that area. All that is just IMO.
