#East African music

[mywifeleftme]

339: Mahmoud Ahmed // ማሕሙድ ፡ ኣሕመድ

ማሕሙድ ፡ ኣሕመድ Mahmoud Ahmed 1975, Kaifa (Bandcamp)

Says something extremely cool about Ethiopia circa 1975 that something like this was pop; not merely because the tracks are long and groovy (the case with most African music), but because of their sunblasted grandeur, their fervour. ማሕሙድ አሕመድ (Mahmoud Ahmed, also issued in the ‘80s as Erè mèla mèla) is a formidable work of fusion. I hear notes of the Afrobeat movement that was sweeping West Africa, and the heavy influence of Arabic music from the north and across the nearby Red Sea, but also American spiritual jazz (the latter itself partially derived from African and Eastern sounds). “Sedètègnash Nègn / Samerayé” and “Endénèsh Gèdawo” are among the most striking African recordings I’ve heard, built on mesmerizing, helixing odd-time double bass rhythms stabbed through by blurts of saxophone, like someone repeatedly skewering a serpent with a barbecue fork. The ritualistic air conjured by the Ibex Band and Ahmed’s tremulous, utterly committed vocal makes me think of Exuma and, oddly, Black Sabbath-era Ozzy—a frail, human figure both captivated by the musical powers he commands and pushed to the limits of his sanity.

Much of the record is lighter fare, like “Abay Mado” and “Erè mèla mèla,” and they have their own sway, kissed by flickers of organ, electric guitar, and even flute. These tunes exude an ambient sense of good will, like some musical healing practice, and make a welcome contrast to the more intense jams—they’re so lulling in fact that if I’m doing something else while I listen I can almost forget what I’ve got on, until something freaky like “Ohoho Gédama” drops. I wish I could speak more to the lyrics, but online translators seem to brick Amharic, to the point I couldn’t even tell you what most of the titles mean. I’ve little doubt though that they deal with the same universal concerns as most music of the time and place: the love and fear of love and God. You can party to this, and you can meditate to it, and you can absolutely break in an extremely elaborate hookah to it. Highly recommended.

339/365

[hsmagazine254]

Exploring the Unique Sound of Jux: A Tanzanian Music Sensation

Jux Genre: Bongo Flava, Afrobeat, R&B In the vibrant world of Tanzanian music, one artist has consistently stood out with his distinctive sound, charismatic presence, and remarkable achievements. Born Juma Mussa Mkambala, but known to fans as Jux, this talented musician has carved a niche for himself in the East African music scene. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the life,…

[isthespiceoflife]

[hicginewsagency]

Ronald Mayinja Hits it Beyond Capacity - Serena Hotel Live

[kemetic-dreams]

[story-on-stage]

I'm thinking of starting a series to highlight different theatrical works to help bring awareness to plays and musicals that maybe don't get as much notice, but also to help fill in people's knowledge gaps.

Are there shows you want to know more about? Or want me to highlight one of your faves? Ask box is open.

[nimblermortal]

The ongoing rap discourse is really funny to me because like. Music is not a universal language. That's a stupid cliché. People like stuff that sounds kinda like stuff they've heard before because their brains already know how to process it. British people were super racist about it during the whole empire gambit. Now things spread more easily and people listen to a lot more variety of stuff than they used to, but there are still variables by language, region, platform, and, yes, class and race.

So you want to earn discourse points by listening to rap. Cool! Good, even! Expand your horizons! Start with some simple things. But also, you're making the assumption that all black or even non-white music is Black American music, maybe you'd like music from Saharan cell phones, or kalimba, or goto, or...

Maybe you want to earn discourse points by telling other people to listen to rap, and that they're bad people for not doing so. O-kay... but you're also losing discourse points by not considering neurodivergence, because the mental barrier to trying a new music can be significantly higher or even physically painful depending on your divergence.

You can't win the discourse war, guys. And you usually have more luck getting people to try things by being enthusiastic and providing links.

[voon042]

I 🖤 Real Hiphop 🎼💯

Happy 50th 🎂🎼Hiphop

[2five4plug-blog]

21 year old Kenyan Rapper Ghost Austino Just dropped another banger 🔥🔥🔥💯

HUANGA MBAYA is now out on YouTube. Watch, comment, like , share and subscribe.Thank you 😁

[kariwoknotsheep]

The influence of Dance hall and Caribbean music on East African music is undoubted.

#arbanvibe #arbantone

[mywifeleftme]

278: Dur Dur Band // Dur Dur of Somalia Volume 1 & Volume 2

Dur Dur of Somalia Volume 1 & Volume 2 Dur Dur Band 2018, Analog Africa (Bandcamp)

I’m not going to stand here and tell you directly that Dur-Dur Band is the greatest African group of all time, but if the thought kinda worms around in your brain a lil, well, more to the good. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Mogadishu, Somalia was one of the most happening cities on the continent, and Dur-Dur Band (Somali for Water Stream) held down a residency at a top hotel. They achieved enough local notoriety to have a chance to record some tapes, and their music was in heavy rotation on local radio. In contrast to Ghana and Nigeria, the most well-known loci for Afro-funk, Somalia lies on the east coast of the continent, and Mogadishu was traditionally a cultural hub in which Arabic and Indian influences mixed with the indigenous Somali culture. Colonial occupation by the Italians and the British thickened the stew, and as a result the milieu that produced Dur-Dur was cosmopolitan even by the standards of coastal Africa.

Released in 1986 and 1987 respectively and reissued as a triple LP in 2018 by Analog Africa, Dur-Dur’s Volume 1 and Volume 2 cover a ton of sonic territory, though their core sound is the type of exquisitely groovy horn-driven funk that drives aficionados nuts. The production is nice and raw (Volume 1 was recorded in a single afternoon session at a Mogadishu club) but robust and bass-heavy, and there are also some extremely tasty synth sounds that gesture towards the more electronic sounds happening at the time in places like South Africa. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do with yourself when something like the funk-centipede-conga-line “Doon Baa Maraysoo” kicks your door down and starts boogieing around the house other than join in.

While the band evidently played plenty of foreign music in their marathon stage sets, on record they focused on their novel fusion of these influences with local rhythms. The jittering “Jubba Aaka” matches dense hand-drummed percussion a la Sufi trance music and highlife horns with sassy boy-girl call and response vocals that wouldn’t be out place in a Bollywood dance number; the brief “Saafiyeey Makaa Saraayeey” is a trippy dub blues with fake-out record skips and ululating vocal runs redolent of Islamic prayer music; “Diinleeya” clearly pulls from classic reggae music, but also Dhaanto, a Somali folk dance with a similarly skanking rhythm. The compilation keeps you on your toes; “Salkuu Dhigey,” one of the previously unreleased tracks, has this insistent bleeping guitar figure and shifty beat that makes me think of a like, DJ Koze beat or something.

Basically everything on here slaps. Dur-Dur Band for World President.

278/365

[hsmagazine254]

Harmonize: The Tanzanian Star Shaping the Bongo Flava Scene

Unveiling the Bongo Flava Maestro In the vibrant world of African music, one name shines particularly bright: Harmonize. Hailing from Tanzania, Harmonize has not only made a name for himself but has also significantly influenced the Bongo Flava genre. Join us as we delve into the life and achievements of this Tanzanian music sensation who has captured the hearts of many across the globe. Genre:…

[thenerdsofcolor]

The Middle Geeks Episode 67: Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1 Review

The Middle Geeks review Leslye Headland's 'Star Wars: The Acolyte', whose writers include acclaimed Turkish-American writer Kor Adana.

Arezou joins us once again along with new guest Noor to review one of the most riveting Star Wars series yet. Continue reading The Middle Geeks Episode 67: Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1 Review

[suetravelblog]

Exploring Kuching Malaysia

Darul Hana Bridge and Sarawak Parliament Building Kuching is one of the most exotic and beautiful places I’ve visited in my travels. The tropical weather requires considerable adjustment for those unaccustomed to heat and humidity, and a daily swim in the lap pool helps! Kuching Apt Lap Pool Daytrips I’ve been exploring the surrounding areas but have had difficulty booking daytrips. There aren’t…

[kemetic-dreams]

Elmi Boodhari (Somali: Cilmi Ismaaciil Liibaan, Arabic: علمي اسماعيل ليبان) (1908 – 1940) was a Somali poet and pioneer in the genre of Somali love poems. He is known among Somalis as the King of Romance (Boqorkii Jacaylka). He was born near the border between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1908 and hailed from the Eidagale sub-clan

He is known in the Somali world for his love poems that he wrote to a girl named Hodan Abdulle that he fell in love and met in Berbera. Boderi was working at a bakery shop in the port city of Berbera when he fell in love with Hodan Abdi. Bodari began to write her romantic poems, and in one of his poems he spoke of once seeing Hodan’s naked body, which was considered a serious offense in those times given and still is, in addition to several other elements that stood in the face of him marrying her. Hodan got married and it is said that he died from the resulting heartbreak.

Elmi Boodhari differed from the poets of his generation in that he eschewed the popular theme of Tribal war and vengeance in Somali poetry, instead wholly focusing on love and composing all his poems for Hodan, which was seen as highly unconventional and scandalous, for this reason he was ridiculed by society.

Author Mohamed Diiriye in his book Culture and Customs of Somalia, writes:

Among the poets of the past century, a poet who has gained the hearts of all Somalis in every district is Elmi Boodhari, many major poets such as Mohamed Abdallah Hassan and Abdi Gahayr, aroused resentment among some Somalis, as they addressed diatribes against the members of a certain clan, or urged bloodletting; such poets are known as viper tongues, and the poems of such poets have been known to cause feuds and clan wars. But not so with Elmi Boodhari, his subject was romance and only that. While the poets of his day where addressing serious subjects such as war and feuds, Boodhari composed all of his poems for the lady of his affection Hodan, who was given in hand of marriage to a man much wealthier than him. Instead of getting literary kudos for his beautiful verse, Boodhari was made the object of public ridicule. Somali society had not been of course devoid of romance either in song or prose in any age, but to proclaim the object of ones love was frowned upon in the social mores of Somalis.

Boodhari also faced alienation and ridicule from his fellow Eidagale kinsmen and composed the following verse:

If a man has a wound he is taken to the doctor, but the braves of Daud are ridiculing me

Mohamed Diiriye commenting on the above verse writes:

It was enough that Hodan's relatives were infuriated and felt that their daughter's name had been soiled by a man who was proclaiming in public his love for her, but Boodhari also had to face the fury of his kinsmen, the Daud, who all together disowned him for spending his days pining for one woman when they could get him a girl as beautiful or more beautiful than she. Boodhari tried in lament to remind his kinsmen that the wounds of the heart merit the same attention as the wounds of the flesh.

She is altogether fair: Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence; Magnificent of bearing, tall is she; A proud grace is her body’s greatest splendor; Yet she is gentle, womanly, soft of skin. Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest ink; And a careless flickering of her slanted eyes Begets a light clear as the white spring moon. My heart leaps when I see her walking by, Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway. I often fear that some malicious djinn May envy her beauty, and wish to do her harm.

— From “Qaraami” (Passion), as presented by Margaret Laurence in A Tree for Poverty.

Influence on Somali Music

Boodharis poetic style and subject matter heavily influenced Somali Music and musicians such as Abdullahi Qarshe who was one of the pioneers the popular Balwo and Heello Genres.

Matters began to change following World War 2 as musicians and composers, like Abdullahi Qarshe, popularly known as the father of Somali music, began to pioneer a new genre- that of Balwo and Heello, both of these terms refer to forms of lyrical verse, the difference between the two being that balwo is four lines only while heello is considerably longer. Both styles broke new grounds in style and content. the subject matter differed radically from the past, as compositions focused in on love and nationalism, rather than the epic tales of war and adversity as in the old hees, at least some of this shift can be accredited to Elmi Boodhari, a baker who composed during the 1930s. He is said to have recited his compositions describing his unrequited love for a woman named Hodan until he wasted away and perished in 1941. ~Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society