James Brown died today. He was 73.

Benn loxo listener, Henri, sent me this Sekouba Diabaté track to post as a tribute. I’ll also post a track by “Ethiopia’s James Brown”, Alemayehu Eshete, to show how far his influence spread.

I can’t say anything positive about James Brown the person, but his music and style influenced multiple generations and forever shaped soul and funk. RIP.

 
Sekouba “Bambino” Diabaté - It’s a Man’s, Man’s World
Alemayehu Eshete - Hirut Beqele

Don’t get me wrong - I love Christmas, especially the bit where I get to blast Domenic The Italian Christmas Donkey in my car with the windows down.

But I need a break after the overdrive of carols… so I was digging through my collection this afternoon and decided to put together a little gift: my favourite African hiphop tunes, at least for this warm Christmas Eve afternoon.

It’s a good opportunity for new Benn loxo listeners to do some catch-up and hear tracks that were posted before they found this site. For the rest of us it’s a little collection of beats I hope you all enjoy.. plus a Madvillain bonus track that’s too good to leave off. Merry Christmas.

If you want to suggest any of your African hiphop favourites that didn’t make this quick mix leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Bole 2 Harlem - Hoya Hoye
Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim - Elengwen
Gokh-Bi System - Xaesal
X-Plastaz - Msimu kwa msimu
Mode9 - Track 1
Daara J - Boomerang
Positive Black Soul - Boul Ma Mine
Outshine - Caution
Batman Samini - Lambori
Positive Black Soul - Redemption
Awadi - Le cri ou peuple
Xuman et Bugz Bunny - Sassouné
Abass - Abass
Viviane & Fou Malade - Taximan
Omzo - Missalu Aduna
Slam Revolution Feat BMG 44
Posse & Doudou - Africa Lakalé
Boul N’Baï - SIDA
Slam Revolution - Wax Degg
Mode9 - Track 4
Madvillain - Figaro (101 Remix)

Yesterday I stumbled home late after a good night at the Sattelit Café in Paris. The music was the usual good mix of African/South American/Middle Eastern. An ecclectic mix of rai, mbalax, salsa, gnawa and coupé décalé still rings a bit in my ears.

In the spirit of this mix of musical styles while at the same time sticking to my recent North Africa kick, let’s listen to some Abdeljalil Kodssi.

Originally the “best barber in town”, Marrakech native Kodssi starting devoting himself to music in the late 70s. His career slowly developed over the twenty years, first touring Spain in the mid 80s then eventually broke into the French market a couple years ago with his solo album, Mimoun.

The root of most of Kodssi’s music is obviously a Moroccan Gnawa style but he mixes in rock, West African pop and some flamenco. I think the organ he often uses on Mimoun sounds perfect over the North African rhythms and strumming.

Crisp, sunny Paris Sunday. Big coffee. Good music. Bliss.

Abdeljalil Kodssi - Bechokek
Abdeljalil Kodssi - Hada Rayeh

Big thanks to Benn loxo listener and solid DJ, Boima, for the tickets, beer and music last night at the Trabendo. You can catch Boima on tour in Europe with Spearhead at the moment. I’ll be posting something off his latest release, a Sierra Leone hip-hop mix, later this week. In the meantime check-out his web site.

It’s great to keep meeting Benn loxo people. Nice crowd.

Anyway, over a year ago a Benn loxo listener, Carsten, sent me a guest post. Sorry for taking so long to put it up. I re-found Malika’s Poleni just the other day after digging Carsten’s e-mail out of the depths of my inbox:

“Malika was born on the island of Lamu (Kenya) and at an early age moved to Somalia where she began her singing career. In the 1960s she appeared on Somali radio and television and soon gained fame as a singer up and down the East African coast.

Apparently at some point in her career, Malika suffered damage to her voice but unfortunately, I don’t have any early recordings by her so I can’t really make a before and after comparison. Although Malika’s voice at present is not an excessively powerful one nor does its have an extraordinary range, it is a joy to hear her sing. Her phrasing is exquisite and her singing exudes a subtle poignancy that this reviewer finds irresistible.”

You can hear more Malika on the album, Tarabu: Music from the Swahili of Kenya.

Thanks for the post, Carsten.

Malika - Poleni

Today veteran Benn loxo guest poster, ubulujaja, returns with some more hard to find 1970s highlife:

“F. Kenya was born in the Ghanaian town of Asima in the Eastern Nzema District. Trained as a goldsmith, he started singing in the mid 60’s with the Ahamanos band and later joined Kaikaiku’s No. 1 band before going out his own in the late 70’s. He was one of the first popular singers to sing in his native Nzema language and the energy in his vocals and performances made him very popular in Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast. F. Kenya moved to the Ivory Coast in the early 80’s and did a number of LP’s including the great LP’s Powerhouse Vol 1 and Vol 2. A few F. Kenya tracks have appeared in the Gun and Guitar compilations Vol 1 and 2 put out by John Booker, but nothing else has been available in the West. The song Ngaluka Ngaluka is from a 1977 Essiebon release of the same name. His nephew is the famous Cote de Voire musician Meiway.

Master Bob Akwaboah started out in the early 60’s with Kwaa Mensah’s band, then joined Dr. K. Gyasi’s band as a vocalist before forming the Akwaboah’s guitar band in 1963. A prolific musician he put out more than 50 45’s during the 60’s and a number of LP’s. I first heard his music on one his early 80’s release Hwe Mibi Nako. This LP is worth tracking down because the great Ghanaian trumpeter ET Mensah lends a hand along with Sweet Talks bassist Ralph Karikari. While not as well known in the West as bands like the African Brothers and Sweet Talks he was a integral part of the Ghanaian music scene for three decades and his music is a prime example of the down tempo guitar band sound of Ghanaian music in the 70’s and 80’s and deserves wider recognition. The track Mihune A Anka Manba is from the B-side of an Executive release titled Wayge Wodee Anaa. The record does not list a release date, but I would guess sometime in the late 70’s.”

Thanks again for the music, ubulujaja.

F. Kenya - Ngakula ngakula
Master Bob Akwaboah and his Supreme Internationals - Wayge Wodee Anna (Maye Dada)

Today we take a short break from my North African series and listen to a guest post from Benn loxo listener and fellow Parisian, Henri.

“Coronthie is a large working class district in Guinea’s capital, Conakry. A mightily crowded place it sure seems to be: population density there is the same as that of central Paris, for instance, although buildings tend to be built in mud and are only one story high, instead of a typical six or seven in Paris. The name of the place comes from the Portuguese word for “quarantine”, since it originally harboured Conakry’s lazaret.

From there comes a bunch of young guys (one of them is barely 13) playing traditional instruments but not the traditional way. Guinean music tends to be high-tempo and slightly harsh. These guys exude a delightful laid-back feeling; their stuff is mellow, elegant yet complex acoustic African folk.

They have been incredibly successful at home over the last two years and their last CD sold more than 70,000 copies - not bad for a small, rural country of less than 10 million people. Unfortunately, their records seem to be totally unavailable on the world market - but rejoice! they have a Myspace (in French) and will be touring Europe during the Spring of 2007.”

Thanks for the great music, Henri. Does anyone else have any suggestions for African groups on MySpace?

Les Espoirs de Coronthie - Dunuya iguiri
Les Espoirs de Coronthie - Grand GN
Les Espoirs de Coronthie - Khata remix

I’ll continue on my Algerian kick today with some beautiful music by Souad Massi. I’m not sure why I haven’t given her music a closer listen in the past. Now I’m hooked. Thanks to Henri for letting me have a second listen.

Souad Massi was born in Algeria in 1972. She came from a musical family and learned guitar at a young age, studying flamenco (she loves Paco De Lucia) and other styles.

Early on she played in a variety of groups, from folk to rock, but didn’t have much interest in traditional Algerian music. That changed over time and Massi gradually developed a beautiful-sounding Algerian traditional/modern-Western hybrid style.

In 1999 she arrived in Paris with a splash at a Algerian women’s concert at the Cabaret Sauvage and never looked back. She lives here now and has released four albums, each of which is steadily increasing her international reputation.

Three tracks today: two from her 2001 release, Raoui, and one from her 2002 album, deb.

Souad Massi - Ghir enta
Souad Massi - Bladi
Souad Massi - Rani Rayha

I liked that Maurice El Medioni track from yesterday’s post so much that I picked up more of his music today.

Back in 1947 when he was only 19 years old, Medioni, or “Boogie” to his friends, invented his “pianoriental” playing style that blends rai with elements of Latin and French chanson music.

Today’s music is off Maurice El Medioni’s 1982 release, Pianoriental, re-released by Buda in 2002. The music on this album is much more piano-based. I love the way most tracks start with streaming melodies using Arabic scales, often for several minutes, before the Algerian percussion and Latin influence kicks in.

This North African trend will continue for the next few days. I’ve had two tagines in the last 24 hours and I’m just getting started…

Maurice El Medioni - Ouine Rak
Maurice El Medioni - Touchia Sica

I don’t want to seem like a Rough Guide fanboy or anything, but the CDs they graciously keep sending me are consistently great. The latest, The Rough to Latin-Arabia, is of particular interest because lately I’ve been trying to pull my Arabic music knowledge out of the depths of ignorance.

I was going to post Rhany’s track, Chan Chan, but Paul over at Aurgasm beat to it. You also on the Rough Guide dist list? Either way, that’s cool, because I’ll post some Maurice El Medioni whose life story is conducive to a great post title. I also love any song that starts with the lyrics, “tu as assisté à ma naissance.”

Born in the Algerian rai hot-spot of Oran, Medioni got his start playing piano for American troops after Algeria was “liberated” from France in 1942. He had to flee in 1962 following a rise in intolerance towards Algeria’s Jewish population and he eventually settled in Paris.

Medioni blends rai and various Latin musical styles to create a sound very much appropriate for the Parisian cabaret scene.. or a Cuban salsa bar. There’s a good quote over at the Piranha records site that sums it up:

“The basis of my music is Andalusian, but I mix in Boogie Woogie, Jazz and Latin. Despite this my music still has the resonance of the Maghreb.”

The good people over at fly.co.uk have written much more about Medioni if you’re curious.

Maurice El Medioni - Oran Oran