A bonus track from the 45rpms found in Barcelona...
And here's a crazyness made in 1980 in Caracas: an humorist rapping in spanish on a fat disco instrumental. When first hip hop from the US arrived in Venezuela it was surnamed "musica cotorra" (cotorra = parrot) I guess because of the singers flow. So Peruche Conde made a hip hop typically from Venezuela with this hit "la cotorra criolla" (criolla = creole). Lyrics are very funny, but behind the humoristic approach, it's a real social and protest song (!) denouncing poor living conditions (prices increase, low salaries, no social welfare, pre-election promises...).
A small post dedicated to Keith Elam (Guru), died by 19/04/2010. West coast rap singer, he founded GangStarr in 1989 with DJ Premier.
The 1st Jazzmatazz project, presented in 1993 as "an experimental fusion of hip hop and jazz", is a musical gem (including prestigious featurings as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith), and open the way to deeper collaboration between rappers and jazzmen. Always good to remind that hip hop comes from jazz...
Chrisalys F1-21998
Guru - Jazzmatazz vol.1 - Introduction
Guru previoulsy rapped "Jazz Thing" (used in Spike Lee's Mo Better Blues), where the message about importance of jazz was more than clearly expressed:
Bakel is hardly reachable, located in extreme east of Senegal, in front of Mauritania, close to Mali, not far from Guinea... feels like in middle of nowhere but actually within Soninké (Sarakholé) area with influences from all around.
As everywhere in Senegal (in Africa?), hip hop is the easiest and more popular way to express feelings, you "just" have to download instrumentals (sometimes not so easy, but there is internet access) and then this is like perpetuating the ancestral griot tradition in a modern way... rapping all day long...
As a farr-off and minority region, rapping high and loud the Soninké cultural identity is reflected in lyrics themes, in some important attention to sing in Soninké language, but transversal problematics are not forgotten.
Amazing place, where a humble 18 years old baye fall , shows you dozens of used notebooks filled with poetries and hiphop lyrics he wrote in 4 languages (french, soninké, bambara, wolof). It was a very surpising and pleasant freestyle/spokenword afternoon...
I'll have another post on theses subject with Fulani Hip Hop (Haal Pulaar / Peul).
Anyway, good flow and "laid back" vibe there... always restrictions on means, but hip hop soul is there.
Great summer parties, including shows and contests (dance, theatre, hiphop, traditionnal), and for sure hot "Soirees Senegalaises" with sabar percusion and really-on-fire dancers...
I arrived there with a bunch of burned CDs with hiphop instrumentals, and i got some fresh hits from the region from DJ Wow (Way Of the World).
So Big Up to SONINKE people and Bakel Hip Hop Connexion, DJ Wow, Boom Fire, DBD, Cheikh Tidiane, Oumar Coulibaly ...
Here's an unreleased tough track from Bay Idi / Tougna, expressing his views (in french wolof and soninke) on french foreign policy, especially on Nicolas Sarkozy...
And a second one dedicated to Soninke People (intro in english, rap in soninke):
A lot more to come about african hip hop and modern griots...
