zhao

there are no accidents
still think youre missing the point. read what me and routes wrote. think about it. slowly.

no i get it, and have gotten it since your first post: solidarity of afro-diaspora within context of UK is important, for rising above various african national identities, putting aside differences, partying together, also for promoting the various different kinds of styles under one umbrella term for the general public, who will likely never remember the names of the specific different genres themselves.

i get it and i agree.

at the same time this Abrantee utters a lot of false, misrepresentative, and plain false crap.
"after 70s Nigerian Afrobeat, "Afrobeats" is the second wave of African music to hit the world"

so what about Soukous, historically the biggest African music export? was that wave 1.5? what about Highlife? Palm Wine Music? Juju? all of which has a LOT more to do with these modern West African pop sounds than Fela.

i think in the interest of self promotion, his attempt to genrify is problematic in many ways.

he could have been a BIT more responsible and accurate in his statements. maybe something along the lines of "'Afrobeats' is a useful generalization which brings together several different styles of West African music, each with its own history, under one umbrella term." instead of "'Afrobeats' is a new genre, a new movement, the second wave of popular dance music coming out of Africa!"

now do you get what I'm saying?
 

luka

Well-known member
well as i said on the other thread, yeah i do get it more where you are coming from now.thank you for taking the time to explain yourse.f.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
cheers Luka. and thanks to your perspective, i no longer have, or at least not quite as big a problem with the name and its usage...

but now the question is: is "Afrobeats" tag worth fighting or should i join?
what should i call the upcoming mix in this musical territory?
the other option is Afropop but that includes a bunch of other stuff which this is not about.
right now i'm leaning towards joining believe it or not.
i dislike the name UK Funky yet still use it...
 
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Benny Bunter

Well-known member
what a beautiful compromise! Well done lads :)

Been listening to some of this guys AFROBEAST mixtapes http://soundcloud.com/wavyj

Fair bit of crossover with what Abrantee plays, perhaps better mixed and sequenced though, maybe you'd appreciate these more Zhao (?).

This is definitely the most infectious and charming pop music I've heard for a long time. I've had Wizkids 'No lele', Oliver Twist, Atumpan's 'The thing' and loads of others going round my head all day for 2 weeks now. i'm guessing some of these tunes have been around for a year or two, but I'm hearing them for the first time so i really fell for that Abrantee tape.

Actually think the sound of Autotune on African vocals is a lovely sound too. No lele is a case in point. And that amazing bombastic intro! No wonder both the Abrantee and the AFROBEAST mixtapes both start with this song.

 

zhao

there are no accidents
This is definitely the most infectious and charming pop music I've heard for a long time.

no doubt. the vocal harmonies, the rhythm... the best is truly blissfully transcendent. after listening to a bunch of Naija and Hiplife "western" R'n'B and pop often sounds very under-developed, lackluster, boring and awkward to me.

i still don't understand most people's reservations or straight intolerance of these kinds of African urban dance-pop: if people can listen to Shakira or any other mainstream US pop/R'n'B, why can't they at least appreciate this? i'm not even asking for recognition of the many ways that these styles are simply BETTER.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
yeah Benny, i do like that WavyJ's mixes better.

there are more than 1 roads to Rome, and there are more than 1 way to play this music... but one of the main characteristics of it is the unrelenting high energy -- the feeling of being immersed in a sea of bliss. and as it is with Soukous or many other kinds of African dance music, the times that i have absolutely LOST MY SHIT beyond previously imaginable levels at shows and parties are those times when the energy builds, and builds, and builds, and builds. and when it reaches the stratosphere, when you think OH MY LORD this place can not POSSIBLY get ANY more hype -- the music just fucking kicks it up another notch. total sweat drenched jumping catharsis.* **

and maybe it's my minimal techno background speaking a little bit, this Abrantee breaking up the energy with stop and go all the time in a directionless selection with no flow is just FAIL to me.

*heh, i guess this can be kind of applied to a dj set of many kinds of music... but i think maybe especially with this stuff.

** and by "high energy" i don't mean bpm or physically banging, i mean "high" as in getting high, as in high spirited, as in ecstatic.
 
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carmen

 
i think it's some kind of coupe decale, and doesn't sound like it's from Ivory Coast, but some kind of either Congolese or something version of Coupe... as the style is becoming really popular in other parts.

it's Haitian.Kanaval is Feb 18th so the pirates have been blaring out 190-210bpm tunes for the past month

proper glass-eaters.
 

carmen

 
Kanaval seems to be a generic label for everything. just faster. some of the most interesting stuff ive found lately is 'rap-naval' on soundcloud..
 
Are there any recent mixtapes floating around that aren't Abrantee? Not a massive fan of his sets but could do with a bit of this for the brief burst of sun I think
 
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