Anyway, across the Atlantic we go! Off to Africa! Cape Verde, Ghana, and Nigeria specifically.
Although not too far from the influences of Portugal, it seems. I just had to post something by Cesaria Evora. Her music makes me happy. My mom would always play it when she was cooking, especially at big family events like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cesaria Evora is from Cape Verde, which is a group of islands off the coast of West Africa. It was colonized by the Portugese in the 15th century, and its official language is still Portugese, even though they gained independence a while back. Cesaria Evora is freaking amazing. They call her "the barefoot diva" since she so often performs in bare feet. She started her career in 1988 at the age of 47(!!). She is still alive and touring around, being an awesome old lady, basically. Her music is jazzy and fun and sounds similar to Brazilian music, but with a distinct Cape Verdean twist to it. She is famous for singing "morna" which is the national music of Cape Verde (like the tango for Argentina).
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| What a freaking amazing lady. Honestly. |
This one is much more upbeat and fun and danceable than her others.
This second one is a more standard one of hers that I love. It's more sultry, let's say. I think it's a "morna." DEFINITELY worth a listen.
GOOD SONG #2:Mar Azul
Next up, Ghana!
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| He's pointing at YOU. |
So I was just searching online for good African hip-hop, and turns out Ghana's pretty big on the map. I don't pretend to know much about this guy, or African rap, but I liked this song. Check it out! Rapping in umm... whatever language it is... sounds really cool! Sorry, I can't tell the difference between the different Ghanaian dialects/languages. The video is surprisingly well done, too. He looks like a baller, I gotta admit.
Definitely worth checking out if you like hip-hop in any way, shape, or form.
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| I don't mean to toot my own horn, but... |
And last but not least, Nigeria!
So Femi Kuti is the son of Fela Kuti, the "legendary"Afrobeat musician from Nigeria. Femi played in his father's band (the Nigeria '70 and then later the Egypt '80) and Afrobeat certainly played a big role in his musical upbringing. Femi's own son is part of his band, so he's keeping the tradition alive and all in the family, it seems. Which probably isn't too hard, since the family is large.... that's what happens when your father has had 20+ wives! Anyway, this song in particular is funky and cool, with a great beat. I love it when the horns join in. I wanna dance to this song so badly. Whooooooo
If you liked these songs, you might also check out:
Ana Moura
Lura
Seun Kuti
Youssou N'Dour
Samini
Over and out,
Anna
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