On the Playlist 17AUG2018…

"Lonlon" from the album Djin Djin by Angelique Kidjo. This track is set to Ravel's Bolero but with African lyrics. Angelique Kidjo hails from Benin and is known as the queen of African music. This track is very powerful.

The reason it sticks in my mind is due to an early morning drive to work when I first moved to California. I was able to pull out of the driveway from the apartment we were living in and start this track and pulled into the office just as the track was ending exactly 4:54 later - a distance of 3.4 miles. It was a bit early that morning and I hit the traffic lights almost perfectly. A few speed limits may have been exceeded but I can neither confirm or deny that as the above may not have actually happened. This track was the perfect backdrop hitting the final crescendo as I arrived at the office.

On the Playlist 13AUG2018…

One of my favorite songs of all time "Biko" from the album Wakafrika by Manu Dibango. This is definitely a crank it loud kind of song that my kids hate when I play. I also love the cover of this album as it totally makes sense based on the album name. This album is a bunch of cover songs by artists that are African or in the case of Biko are African themed. The song Biko is originally by Peter Gabriel from his third album (the one with his face melting on it) but I like this version better than the original. The song is about Stephen Biko who was an anti-apartheid activist who died at the hands of the South African police under suspicious circumstances while in custody. His story was the subject of the book and subsequent movie, Cry Freedom. Manu Dibango is a Cameroonian musician who pioneered an African funk style of music and came to popularity with his song Soul Makossa in 1972. At age 84 he is still an active musician. 

Manu Dibango - Wakafrica

Manu passed away from Covid-19 on 24MAR2020.