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