Melozouk ft Johnny Ramos - Vai a luta

Absolutely loving this track by Melozouk and Johnny Ramos!

Read more »

D'Banj - Oliver Twist

 

Alas!!! Finally the video is here, and I am HAPPY.

Read more »

Ricardo Fonseca - YO

 

Until yesterday, I had never heard of Roberto Fonseca.
I came across a newspaper review describing him as an electrifying performer who mixes Cuban rhythms with music from around the world.
I immediately made a note to myself to check out his music.
Fonseca is a Cuban Jazz pianist  whose current work further experiments with a mix of electro and analogue sounds.
I have to admit, I myself am not a big fan of Jazz, mainly for the fact that I sometimes just don't get it's rhythms. But after listening to a couple of tracks from his new album 'YO' (Spanish for 'I' or 'Me'), I immediately fell in love.





How can I describe Fonseca and his talent??
Stunning!




Roberto Fonseca is touring Europe to present his new album 'YO'  which was released on 19th March. 
For those who are intersted, his tour dates are as follows:

• 23/03 Gateshead UK The Sage 
• 24/03 Manchester UK RNCM 
• 26/03 London UK Barbican 
• 28/03 York UK Theatre Royal 
• 29/03 Brighton UK The Dome 
• 30/03 Bristol UK St. Georges 
• 1/04 Birmingham UK Town Hall 

Read more »

Buraka Som Sistema - Bootyleg

Yay!
I swear, every time Buraka Som Sistema come out with something new, its like Christmas for me.
Buraka recently made a bootleg with Diplo doing the acapella, and of course.... I...LOVE...IT!!!
Even better, you can download it for free!!

Enjoy.

Read more »

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca Samba Luku Samba

My love for world music (especially African) is a result of my dad's passion for Afro-Latin music. His hobby, tho not effective currently, was collecting records, which we store a mass selection in our house.

It's almost tradition for my dad on Sundays to sit in the living room, with a glass of chilled beer, listening to his vast collection and reminiscing about being back home in Africa.

So, I thought I'd ask him who his favourite artist of all time is.

I would have guessed Sam Mangwana, purely because he listens to him alot.

Instead, his all time musician is Ricardo Lemvo. Reasons being because he identifies with him culturally. Like Lemvo, my dad is of Angolan heritage, however fled from the war in Angola to Congo as a child with his family and lived there for a couple of years. He then later returned to Luanda where he met my mummy, worked a couple of years in Cuba, and then finally moved here to the UK. In total, my dad speaks six languages (Lingala, Kikongo, Portuguese, French, English and Spanish) the same as Lemvo, and 

all though he experienced some cultural identity struggles, he has however learnt to embrace it all, as it has made him the man he is today. 

Ricardo Lemvo

Ricardo Lemvo was and still is a pioneer with his creative music style. Lemvo's blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms with pan-African styles (soukous, Angolan semba and kizomba) infectious without a doubt
The Congo-born musician who is of Angolan ancestry is the embodiment of the Afro-Latin Diaspora which connects back to Mother Africa via the Cuban clave rhythm. Lemvo shows his multi-cultural diversity singing in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Lingala, and Kikongo. 

Read more »

CrossFire ft. Haila – Carnaval

Swedish Dancehall and Soca group, CrossFire teamed up with the first lady of Cubaton Haila Mompié to. create Carnivale Mundial The tune fuses a lot of different music styles such as cubaton, electtronic, reggaeton and soca.

Read more »

Musik Maestro - House Party

London based East African duo, Crisis Musik and JR Maestro have developed their own blend of Afrobeats/House which I am absolutely loving!

The track titled House Party, from their 'Empire Sings Back' EP is a perfect example of their perfect fusion.



My verdict.... Definitely a hit!

Looking forward to whats to come from the duo.

Read more »

Women Who Rock: My Top 5

In the African music industry, women tend not to be as successful as their male counter parts. So since yesterday was international women's day, I thought I'd share with you my top 5 female influential African music artists.

• #5: Perola (Angola)

I love Perola's elegance beauty, voice and music. And she definitely for me carries the flag for female musicians in Angola.

• #4: The late Brenda Fassie (South Africa)

My mum was and still is a BRenda fan. Regardless of her age and petite little frame, this woman had energy that not even I could handle. A great lost, but nevertheless she left us with some good music.

• #3: Cesaria Évora (Cape Verde)

The grammy nominated cape verdian barefoot queen who we tragerdly lost at the end of last year. She Will never be forgotten.

• #2: Sara Tavares (Portugal/Cape Verde)

I love Sara Tavares with all my heart. Her music, though simplistic, gets the message across. Beautiful.

And drum roll please....

• #1: my fave artist, Nneka (Nigeria)

This should be of no surprise. What more can I say?! I LOVE NNEKA!

Celebrating women everyday.

Read more »

Katia Cadet

Haiti born, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Katia Cadet earned her Grammy recognition for co-writing “911” performed by Wyclef Jean and Mary J. Blige.

Katia sings in French, English, Creole, Portuguese and Italian over multi genres such as Zouk, Dance Hall, Kompa, Soca, Roots and Reggae, all with a strong fusion of R&B.

A Mes Pieds is definitely the track I love most. Such a beautiful song accompanied with a beautiful soft voice.

I can't help it, I love Zouk!

Have a listen to a few of her tracks! you will like...

Read more »

55 years of Ghana Independence

My heart always warms to Ghana, be it during the world cup, or through music. Mainly because my closet friend who I've practically grown up with, baptised me into her Ghanaian family.

Here's three of my favorite Ghana hits!

r2bees ft nana boroo & sarkodie agyeeei



Still one of my favorite tracks from Ghana, Atumpan - the thing.

Atumpan uses alter egos in his song to express different reggae and dancehall styles and subject matters. Love it!




Last but not least, I love me some Azonto!
Gasmilla - Abodato

Gasmilla - Aboodatoi(Official Video)
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Happy belated independence Ghana!

Read more »

Amor é...

O amor é tudo,
Amor é nada
Amor é asas,
Amor é Momento,
Amor é sede,
Amor é agua,
Amor é mundo,
Amor é alimento,
Amor é corpo,
Amor é alma,
Amor é magia,
Amor é do vento... eternamente.

Read more »

Buraka Som Sistema & Sara Tavares - Voodoo

As of recently, I've started listening to Komba again.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big Buraka fan and cannot get enough of them.
But this time round, the track on repeat is "Voodoo" featuring one of my favorite Lusophone Afro soul artists Sara Tavares.



Can't get enough!

Read more »

Feel the bass and enjoy the marimba....

I Randomly stumbled upon DJ Branquinho's soundcloud the other day and immediately was hooked on his afro house track Play The Marimba.
A feel good chilled track.
Once again... The evolving genre of AfroHouse in Angola.

Enjoy.

Read more »