BBC Sound System are a Senegalese hiphop group based in Paris, France. Their 2003 release, Na Banko, resurfaced in my collection lately thanks to a random shuffle.

Once again I’m reminded how Wolof is a great rapping language.. so angular, filled with rhyming sounds.

Unfortunately it’s not much more than a collection of sounds to my ears; with every passing day my Wolof disappears, word by word. I can still make a Senegalese person laugh when I hear the accent in Paris and respond with a Wolof joke, but that’s about it these days.

Anyway, just a quick post this morning.

BBC Sound System - Kalama

Every few months I like to dig around the Google Analytics statistics for this site and see who visits and from where.

Apparently I have no friends in Chad.

Not surprisingly, the US, France, Germany and England dominate the charts. I have friends in Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt so those countries have decent stats. South Americans apparently love African music so they’ve always had a presence. East Asia is weak, Central Asia almost non-existent.. but once and I while I get that lone visitor from Kyrgyzstan. That hit from Bishkek was much appreciated.

People (or, more likely, spam bots) from 187 countries have visited Benn loxo over the 365 days. But unless the following countries don’t have an ISP, as far as I can tell I’ve never had any visitors from Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, North Korea, Laos (not a fan, Julie?) and Chad.

So what’s up, Chad? Even one or two people from Equatorial Guinea and the CAR have dropped by. Niger is a hotspot compared to you guys. (Ok, two visits over the past year, but who’s counting.)

Not enough Chadian musicians, maybe? Ok, fair enough, even though Les Jaloux Saboteurs counts for at least ten amazing songs. Can anyone suggest other good music by Chadians?

Well, MC Solaar is sort of Chadian, right? Better yet, I found this great music video by Chadian family group, H’Sao, now based in Montreal.

Most other stuff I found was either too poppy or religious for my taste, so I’m all ears for suggestions.

In the meantime, a little classic French-Senegalese-Chadian hiphop.

MC Solaar - Nouveau Western

Been busy with the French elections and enjoying the out of control amazing French weather of late. I’m back, though, with about 600 new tracks to dig through, select and post for the Benn loxo crowd.

In 2003, Ben Herson and Daniel Cantor of Nomadic Wax headed to Dakar with a mobile studio. They spread the word that anyone who wanted to lay down a rap track could come record with them.

Three years of post-production later we finally have the second African Underground release from Nomadic Wax, Depths of Dakar.

You might have heard the first African Underground volume on Benn loxo back in May, 2005. This first release was the product of Ben’s 2000 thesis on the influence of hiphop on Senegalese culture. Until recently, it was the easily one the best produced compilations of Senegalese hiphop available.

Since then the production quality of West African hiphop has stepped-up a notch, particularly in places like Senegal and Nigeria. That said, Depths of Dakar continues Nomadic Wax’s tradition of showing us how amazing West African hiphop can sound with the right attention. Many of the rappers featuring on both volumes are previously unknown, young talents on the Dakar scene who shine when mixed with Ben and Daniel’s beats and productions.

Check-out africanunderground.com for more information.

Sen Kumpa - Niawal

Ben Herson, aka Benny Beats, founder of Nomadic Wax, took his mobile studio down to Dakar a few years ago in search of unknown Senegalese MCs.

His African Underground and Mapito recordings are fantastic collections of Senegalese and Tanzanian hiphop. I’ve already featured some on Benn loxo, and I’m sure many of you had a listen. Nomadic Wax’s Democracy in Dakar project about hiphop’s role in the Senegalese elections was also really well put together.

Turns out Ben is a friend of a friend. Hopefully we’ll be linking up this week as he’s coming through Paris to explore the immigration issues surrounding next week’s French elections.. particularly amongst the Senegalese community here.

You can find today’s track, Ben’s mix of a previously unknown Senegalese rapper, Pato, on WorldMusic.NationalGeographic.com’s release, GeoRemixed: Big Beats for a Small Planet.

Pato - Keep It Real (Benny Beats remix)

Benn loxo listener Chief Boima comes through with a great Afro-Portuguese hiphop guest post today:

“I don’t know why but I too have become infatuated with Afro-Portuguese music. Maybe it’s because I’m Sierra Leonean and the Portuguese were the first to colonize before the British, and some Portuguese words survived in Krio like “sabi.” Or, maybe it’s because I speak Spanish not French and the it is much easier for me to get the general meaning behind the Portuguese lyrics than songs in other languages. Or, maybe because when I first heard Kuduro it blew my mind, and as a dj I became obsessed with the music that moves your booty like the Chicago House I used hear to at our middle school dances, but has roots in music like the dance tunes I knew from the African parties of my parents’ generation. But, here I am today collecting anything I can get my hand on from Bahia to Lisbon to Luanda and beyond.

Here are two hip hop tracks that also blew my mind when I first heard them. They are from two hip hop artists from Angola.

The first is Das Primeiro whom I heard the first time on some hip hop compilations when I took a trip to Portugal, he also has a track on the Rough Guide to African Rap. I think that he lives in Europe somewhere now, (Amsterdam?) but he reps Angola, and has a monster flow, with the confidence and delivery that could stand up to any of the greats in any language. I like his use of samples and really seems to be aware of his cultural roots while maintaining a strong hip hop identity. I chose the song Mana Maria because it has a real nice guitar sample that reminds of some of the Kizomba tunes or the other guitar based tunes that I’ve heard from Angola.

The second is Sonho Africano from Hemoglobina two Angolan MC’s, who live in South Africa now. (?) I heard them first on DJ Edu’s show on BBC 1xtra. This song is my favorite African hip hop song, because it reps a bunch of different nations, as well as the dope lyric content about what a gwan in Africa. It also has a beautiful guitar sample, and the beat drops heavy! I haven’t tracked down their album yet, but writing this has reminded/inspired me to do so. If any one knows where I can get it, hit me up: boima [at] ironmilitis.com. There are ton of great rappers in Portuguese out there, not just from Angola and who all use cultural influences to make their own brand of hip hop, like Sir Scratch, Rappin’ Hood and Marcelo D2. Check em’ if you get the chance.”

Thanks, Boima.

Das Primeiro - Mana Maria
Hemoglobina - Sonho Africano

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)

Hey Jozef, thanks for your comment on the last post. You woke me up. It’s been a while since I last wrote - sorry, people. I’ve been busy sorting out a move, working, traveling and fighting back the cold, Parisian rain. If any of you live up around Canal Saint Martin I’m your new neighbour. And hey, if you live in Amsterdam keep an eye out for me this weekend.

I was at a Sarah Harmer and Kelly Joe Phelps show last night. After the show we bumped into Ms. Harmer at the back of the club so I introduced myself and told her the story about how I spent many hours in a car with my Kenyan friend, Aki, listening to her album, I’m A Mountain, on repeat. It was the only disc we had with us at the start of the trip aside from a Kenyan hiphop mix featuring the Xplastaz. I’ll forever associate the tunes on that album with Aki rapping in Swahili, the German autobahn and large crowds of red-faced English and Dutch football fans.

Anyway, all the acoustic guitar put me in the mood for some solid strumming so I dug up a great disc of Malian kora and flamenco, Songhai Vol. 2. The album features the new flamenco stars, Ketama, and Toumani Diabaté. The fusion of guitar, Gypsy-Spanish singing, kora and other Malian elements works wonderfully. I prefer this second volume to the first since I find the recordings much richer.

The disc’s title, Songhai, refers to the Songhai empire. It was one of Africa’s largest and most powerful empires that, at its height in the 16th century, spanned from modern-day Senegal all the way to central Nigeria.

For today’s post I picked my favourite two tracks plus a third, De Jerez à Mali, since it brings back great memories of sipping sherry on a hot day in Jerez this summer with blue and Annie.

…plus a couple bonuses to add some context.

Ketama, Toumani Diabaté & José Soto - De la Noche a la Manana
Ketama, Toumani Diabaté & José Soto - Sute Monebo
Ketama, Toumani Diabaté & José Soto - De Jerez à Mali
X-Plastaz - Msimu kwa msimu
Sarah Harmer - I Am Aglow

I thought after all the buzz around the Awadi post I’d post some more current Senegalese hip-hop today.

The other half of Positive Black Soul, Duggy Tee (formerly Doug-E Tee - gotta love that name change), also has his own solo thing going on. Personally I think that Awadi has more talent, but Duggy Tee is really popular with the rap kids in Dakar. He must be rapping something cool in Wolof slang that I can’t understand.

Wagëblë is making a go for it. They won the 2005 Senegal Hip-Hop awards and have some good publicity buzz. Check-out their well-designed web site, MySpace page. There’s also a YouTube video of today’s track. The shots of Dakar, Gorée and Thiaroye are great.

The last group I don’t know anything about except that they remind me a bit of The Gambia’s Dancehall Masters. It’s always nice hearing the kora incorporated in to the local rnb and hiphop sound. I can imagine a heavily made-up Viviane doing vocals for these guys.

ps- any of you have a 2-3 pièces apartment for me to rent in Paris? It’s worth asking.. especially in a city where you have to visit 30 places before finding something decent. Send me an e-mail if you have a lead and I’ll bless you with African music for life.

Duggy Tee - Beugueuloul
Wagëblë - Senegal
Mama Balla - Beautiful

Positive Black Soul was one of the first Dakar hip-hop groups to break onto the international scene. They’re universally respected by hip-hop kids in Senegal, and helped inspire a whole generation of new rap groups. Thanks to PBS and those early years of Dakar hip-hop’s rise there was suddenly underground rap fans in places like NYC and Paris whocould rhyme-off a half-dozen Senegalese rap groups, from Pee Froiss to Pacotille to BMG44.

Since PBS’ heyday Daara J has emerged as the new popular Senegalese rap group. However, PBS’ members are still recording and releasing successful albums.

One of the PBS stars, Awadi, recently came out with a new album, Sunugaal, that was all the buzz in Dakar while I was there. After giving it a few listens I was a bit let down. His first record was pretty solid, and while it didn’t quite have the freshness of PBS’ earlier stuff, it was still well worth a listen. The new one is too.. I don’t know.. unoriginal?

I look to East Africa now for new rap releases. In my opinion the Dakar hip-hop scene is trying way to hard to sound like 50 Cent instead of focusing on their biggest musical advantage: a rich local musical heritage that they could draw-on to create their own brand of creative, Senegalese hip-hop.

That said, I’ve never posted Awadi on this site from either his new or old album so we’ll hear some today. Both tracks are off his first album since in general I think it’s a better release. The first track reminds me a lot of Reflection Eternal so I’ll also post their track, African Dream.

Awadi - Le cri ou peuple
Awadi - Neye Leer
Reflection Eternal - Africa Dream

Many of you probably have Emmanuel Jal and Abdel Gadir Salim’s album Ceasefire already but I haven’t yet posted it on Benn loxo.

Nominated for the 2006 BBC World Music Awards, Emmanuel Jal has risen from obscurity to become one of Africa’s most well-known rappers.

He’s a good musician in his own right, but Jal’s life story makes journalists drool. He was a child-soldier in Sudan from a young age until was smuggled into Kenya by a British aid worker. In Nairobi, Jal flourished as a musician despite the aid worker dying in a car crash. He eventually started giving concerts for homeless kids as well as participating in the local hiphop scene as an MC.

For 2005’s Ceasefire Jal collaborated with Sudanese oud-playing legend, Abdel Gadir Salim. Jal raps and sings in English, Arabic, Swahili and Dinka while Salim strums it out, occasionally busting in with his own vocals. The combination of old-shcool and new-school East African sounds works really well. It’s no surprise that this album has become a success, with or without the “media-friendly-so-now” Jal bio.

You can pick up Ceasefire over at the World Music Network or at any good record shop. You might have heard Jal on the latest War Child/Help compilation, too.

ps- there won’t be any new posts until the beginning of October. Time for some time in the sun, you know.

Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim - Elengwen

Once and a while on Benn loxo I like to remind listeners that African music isn’t all about koras and djembes. There are lots of sounds coming out of the continent these days and not all of them are strictly related to “traditional” music, nor do they all sound like they should filed under “World” at your local Virgin megastore.

I’ve featured quite a bit of hip-hop from Senegal, South African and Nigeria over the past couple years. It’s been a while, so why not listen to some more. Today we’ll hear some contemporary hip-hop and drum’n'bass sounds from Tanzania.

I know that many of you already know the Xplastaz track, but I’ve never featured it on my site and it’s one of my favourite hip-hop tracks to come out of the continent. This song has particular resonance for me. When I first arrived in Paris a little over a year ago I went to this house party near Opera Garnier. A Benn loxo listener, Olivier, had invited me. I walked into what I thought would be a small gathering to find a multi-room dance party in a partially constructed building filled with a few hundred people all busting up the dancefloor to… Tanzanian hiphop? What a great way to start off a city.

The other two tracks are off Mapito, the Tanzanian Mix Tape Remix Project. This compilation really reflects for me how far East African hip-hop has come over the past few years. Both production and musical quality has really, really improved since the scene started opening up during the late 90s and early 2ks.

Both Xplastaz and Mapito are on the excellent African hip-hop label, Nomadic Wax. You’ve heard stuff here already off their release, African Underground Vol. 1: Hip-Hop Senegal. Much more info on African urban sounds at Africanhiphop.com.

X Plastaz - Msimu kwa msimu
Owen Saunders & Mike Freear feat LC, Bennamo, Yega & Mr. Soo - Self Destruct
Mr. Soap - Niwachache Tu (Timebomb Remix)

A Benn loxo listener, Joe, wrote me an e-mail today from Sri Lanka including a request for some more Nigerian hiphop.

I grabbed a few tracks by Mode 9 off africanhiphop.com the other day. A couple of them are pretty good, including the one I’ll post today.

Mode 9 was an Abuja-area rapper on Payback Tyme records who’s apparently moved to Lagos now. Who knows if he’s still producing any music, but anyone who can pull off a lyric like “slaughtering fools, like a bunch of crazy Toaregs,” gets my respect. Listen to the end to see if you can understand any of the brokan, Nigeria’s unofficial language.

The second track I’m posting is actually a video by Terry Tha Rapman - sorry about the Windows Media format. Mode 9 and Terry The Rapman were both part of the Abuja rap crew, SWATROOT.

This thing is seriously funny. My favourite line has to be, “who needs Calvin Klein when you got Coco Klein?” as he’s sifting through a classic West African street market.

ps- has anyone else been to Abuja? I find it pretty funny that a city so stale (à la Brasilia) could produce a rap scene.

Mode 9
Terry Tha Rapman - I am a Nigerian

If you haven’t already, be sure to check-out africanhiphop.com and senerap.com.

I’ll let the sites speak for themselves, but I got a special kick out of the track “Caution” by Lagos’ Outshine. Available here.

I’ve posted a lot of Senegalese and some Gambian hip-hop on this site, but I haven’t really touched on other countries. There’s been a lot of buzz in the music media lately about Kenyan hip-hop, but I’ve never been to Kenya so I can’t help you there.

Having said this I went to reach for some kwaito/hiphop from South Africa that I picked up in Johannesburg a while back. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any of the CDs and didn’t seem to rip them either. So give me a while and I’ll find some more..

In the meantime I do have some hilarious Nigerian pop and hip-hop compilations from 2003 and 2004 that I picked up in Lagos and Abuja on my numerous trips there. Unfortunately I have no idea (again) what any of the song names are or who they’re by, but no matter.

The song I’m posting today was really big on Nigerian radio when I was there for the Queen of England’s visit in December, 2003. I do hope that it’s actually Nigerian - for all I know it could be from anywhere, but I’m pretty sure that’s a Yoruba rapping in Brokan.

It’s off a compilation called “Afro Hip Hop Jamz Vol. 1″ that I guarantee you can’t buy anywhere outside of Nigeria. (Sorry)

ps- for those who haven’t seen it, there was a very funny article written about me in Punch (a Nigerian national daily) when I was working in Abuja once. The best part is that they made up my quote!

2-shotz - Carry Am Go

Damn, what the hell happened? I used to have all the time in the world. Now I’m at work and it’s 5:40pm and all I can say is this:

If you couldn’t look to Benn loxo du taccu for your Senegalese hip-hop needs, what then? Here’s some Dakar-area old school hip-hop. Well, old school in Dakar hip hop terms: a couple tracks off Jololi’s year 2000 compilation, Da Hop.

ps- Sorry about the skip or two. Scratched CDs are tough to rip.

Posse & Doudou - Africa Lakalé
Boul N’Baï - SIDA

I’m finally heading back to Dakar today after over six weeks of work and vacation in Canada, the US and France. In honour of this I’m going to answer my most frequent request at Benn loxo: Senegalese rap.

Here’s a relatively recent (mid-2004) release from a group of several Senegalese up and comers (”nouveau talent”) in the Dakar rap scene, Le Collectif. I can’t tell you who they all are, but the second-half of the first rap verse is definitely Fou Malade. He has one of the most distinctive sounds on the scene, as you may have heard on his great track Taxi Man with Vivianne N’Dour that I featured here a while back.

Anyway. I’ve said a lot about Senegalese rap already on this site so I’m going to cut it short today. But enjoy. I like this track, and it’s a great example of well-produced Dakarois-Wolof rap.

ps- if you haven’t already, check out the great Ayub Ogada track over at Akwaaba Sound System.

Le Collectif - SIDA

So I went to see one of the Senegal Hip-Hop Awards shows last night at Dakar’s French Cultural Centre. Some groups were pretty funny (including a MC holding a pink plastic cane and sporting a head lamp - supa ghetto), others interesting (Cameroonian mask wearing RnB dancers), and a couple really good (Daara-J almost always puts on a good show). We were particularly impressed by a young MC from Abidjan/Geneva named Kajeem. I’m hopefully going to get a hold of him today so I can grab one of his mixtapes to post on the site.

Anyway, I promised yesterday that I’d post some more “nouveau talent” from the Dakar hip-hop scene. Today you get Flamm J, a politicized Dakar rap group most famous for their big religious kick and attacks on the “corrupting influence” of mbalax music and dancing on young Senegalese women (see this site’s logo). I like them, however, for their incorporation of local instruments into their beats. You’ll hear some kora on today’s track.

The second song is by Bidew Bou Bess (Wolof for “A new star”). I posted this track not because these guys are wildly popular, but rather because they have a unique sound. They use traditional Senegalese singing styles and instruments in their hip-hop with interesting results. And yes, the chorus is a chant to Allah. And yes, much of Senegalese hip-hop is religious. Local spiritual leaders, marabouts, often align themselves with popular hip-hop groups to get their message across and stay on top of the competitive Senegalese Islam power game.

ps- a friend just pointed me to a Slate article about the history of the word “hip”. The author featured in the article thinks that it’s derived from the Wolof word xeppi (pronounced “heppy”) which roughly means “to open one’s eyes”. Thought this was appropriate given the last couple days of posts…

Flamm J - Wedi Guiss (I won’t believe it ’till I see it)
Bidew Bou Bess - Mbaye

The 4th annual Senegalese hip-hop awards are going on this week in Dakar.

While Senegalese hip-hop (known locally as “Senerap”) may not be to everyone’s taste, you can’t deny it’s influence and importance on the African music scene. Senegal, this little country in West Africa, probably has the most developed rap concert and recording scene anywhere on the continent. The amount of new groups coming out who record well-produced singles is pretty amazing. Their influences range from 50-Cent to Saain Supa Crew, and they produce a wide variety of sounds for the super-large speakers at Sandaga market in Dakar.

I’ve said this before, but it’s also amazing to me how the rap here is so non-violent. The rappers usually sing about the ladies, how much they love their country, how much they love their God or how much they love their parents. The occasional angry stuff almost sounds out of place in a scene devoted to hard-core rapping about happy things.

Many of you have written asking for more Daara-J. Over the last couple of years they’ve supplanted Positive Black Soul and Pee Froiss as the most popular rap group in Senegal. They’ve also started to make a name for themselves outside of Senegal, touching French and Belgian markets with their 2003 album Boomerang, relased on the UK label Wrasse.

I also promised some “nouveau talent” from the Dakar rap scene this month. So today and tomorrow I’ll be posting music from some new and promising groups on the scene. Today we get the Dakar All-Stars, a group of top Senegalese rappers from various neighbourhoods in Dakar, with a De La tribute track title.

ps- the picture in today’s post is of K’s wall-size mural that hangs in our living room. It’s by Dakar’s Les Mizérables graffiti crew who would be happy to make you a t-shirt or mural if you want one - send me an e-mail and I’ll put you in touch.

Daara-J - Number One
Dakar All-Stars - Ego Sunu Trip

I’ve posted quite a few West African hip-hop tracks but I don’t think I’ve posted any Afro-French or Afro-American hip-hop collaborations. There are loads but two that stick out in my mind are 113’s “Voix du Mali” with Oumou Sangaré off their 2003 album Dans l’urgence (thanks, sufi, for reminding me about this track) and Tony Allen’s Jekalewa off the Nu Afrobeat Experience compilation.

OK, you probably know all about Tony Allen. Pioneer of afro-beat along with Fela Kuti, drummer and one of the main forces behind the Africa 70 band, &c &c &c. His trademark rhythm is timeless and instantly recognizable. You still hear it on great albums such as the Allenko Brotherhood Ensemble compilation and those by Antibalas. Allen is especially cool since he hasn’t stopped trying new things- he continues to release a wide variety of tunes with rnb, soul, hip-hop, jazz and even house musicians and DJs. He may be a little age-ed but the guy manages to stay cutting edge.

113, named after the Parisian banlieue 113 (think lower-class French suburb), are most famous outside of France for that unfortunate but oh-so-catchy tune “Tonton du bled” that came out when I was living in Paris a few years back. I promise they’re more than that, though, and even though I’m not a super-fan they have some solid tracks. Today’s pick is, in my opinion, one of them. Sangaré’s singing is beautiful and the rapping/rhythm works well. Listen especially to the last minute and a half or so.

Tony Allen - Jekalewa
113 - Voix du Mali feat. Oumou Sangaré

Apparently a bunch of people from Quannum will be hitting this site rather soon. I figured I’d post some more Wolof hip-hop to greet them.

A quick guide to understanding 90% of rap lyrics in Wolof:

xalis - cash money (the x is pronounced like a growling h)
soxna si - a lady
xale yi - the ladies (literally means “the children”)
Bamba - Cheikh Amadou Bamba, 19th century spiritual leader of Mouride Islam

There, I think that’s all we need.

The great thing about Senegal and Senegalese youth is that they’d usually rather listen to local hip-hop than the latest American rap or RnB. Not only can they better understand the Wolof lyrics, but they also appreciate the message more. You hear very little about vice, guns and blood and more about peace in the south or how to marry those hard-to-get Senegalese ladies.

On the main coastal road leading out of downtown there’s a big graffiti piece on the beat-up wall of a mosque complex. It features three Senegalese gangster rap types guys sitting around a fire drinking a mint tea called attaya. This pretty much sums up the scene, in a good way…

The first track was a big hit this year. You’d hear it all the time while riding in Dakar’s famously decorated taxis. It again features Youssou N’Dour’s step-sister Viviane on backup vocals. The second track gives an idea of the kind of hip-hop coming out of Dakar’s poor and bustling downtown district called the Medina. Lastly, since you guys all seemed to enjoy the Senegalese-style PIMP a few posts ago the third track is another faux-cover fresh from the depths of Sandaga market in Dakar.

ps- the title of this post means “rap from my country” in Wolof. And for those of you who don’t know already, benn loxo du taccu means “one hand can’t clap.” It’s a Wolof proverb used to express how you can’t do anything without community.

Viviane & Fou Malade - Taximan
Big D - La Leon
Gokh Bi System - Suma Djigune