YouTube music video comments are the safe space for the pan-African romantic in all of us

YouTube’s comments section is widely acknowledged in modern internet culture as one of the worst places on the Web. Even the most benign videos of a tech toy’s unboxing all too easily descends into vitriol, sexism and discriminatory outbursts. 

Over the years it’s become so bad YouTube has been experimenting with hiding comments as a default on certain types of videos.

But of course there are millions of hours of YouTube videos watched everyday and not all videos inspire nasty comments—far from it. In fact, if you want to enjoy overwhelmingly positive comments, then watching most popular African music videos are where you want to be.

It’s almost always good vibes in the comments for your Burna Boys, Sauti Sols, Wizkids and Diamond Platnumz, who between them rack up hundreds of millions of views each year. You have the roll-callers and the hype(wo)men “Who is still listening to this jam in 2019?” or “If you have listened to this song more than 5 times today, click like” or “If you are Kenyan, please hit like on this comment,” or “I don’t know why this song hasn’t made it to 5M views. Hit like and keep sharing!”

In the recent past even more than before, African music has been crossing borders—aided by the rise of social media and the diaspora that gave musicians more opportunities to instantly release their music to the world. African pop genres developed over the last decade like Nigeria/Ghana’s Afrobeats and South Africa’s gqom have benefitted greatly from YouTube in particular which made it so much easier to go global without major record labels (though they’re now all on board). There has also been a growth in the number of radio stations exclusively dedicated to hits from all over the continent.  

Investors are seeing the opportunity and investing in homegrown music labels. Even Beyonce hasn’t been left behind with the recent release of the Lion King soundtrack that is packed with Afrobeats artists. Big name collaborations are becoming commonplace – bringing black artists across the continental divide together. Afrobeats hits have even made their way into the Caribbean carnival scene.

To read the full article on Quartz Africa, click here.

The legacy of DJ Arafat and how he took the Coupé Décalé sound to the world

A night out in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital, is not complete until you find yourself in a line of Ivorians, all standing side by side facing the giant mirrors that line every dance floor in the city, dancing to a DJ Arafat song.

The untimely death earlier this week of the man dubbed the King of Coupé Décalé left fans stunned as they come to terms with the loss of a charismatic, ground-breaking artist who brought Ivorian dance music to the global stage.

The 33-year old, born Ange Didier Huon, burst onto the musical scene as a DJ in Yopougon, one of Abidjan’s best known nightlife districts. He came from a musical family—his mother was a well-known singer and his father a prominent sound engineer. One of his first hits, Hômmage a Jonathan, was a tribute a friend he lost to a motorcycle accident. This is why, among many reasons, it was particularly tragic Arafat also lost his life a few hours after his own motorcycle collided with a car on Aug. 12.

The Coupé Décalé sound and movement started in Paris nightclubs in the early 2000s where it was brought by Ivorian DJs. In Nouchi (Ivorian slang), Coupé Décalé means “to cheat” and “run away” or cut and run. The fun, bass-heavy sound embraced the joie de vivre that typifies Abidjan, a city known for its legendary partying. It also celebrated young resilient Africans who having endured the difficulties of being migrants in Europe, eventually made it big—sometimes by unorthodox means. Hence the concept of cheating the system and getting away with it. It’s an aspirational genre that emerged at the time of the first Ivorian civil war (2002-2007) when dispirited youth needed to believe in the possibility of a better life sometimes in the form of finding fame and fortune abroad.

Read the full article here on Quartz Africa.

Cesaria Evora's legacy lives on

The largest currency denomination in Cape Verde bears her face, the airport in her home island of Sao Vicente is named after her. There are constant reminders of her legacy wherever you walk – her voice blaring in restaurants, pictures of her, paintings everywhere.

A Cape Verdean friend jokes, “Our passports have a map of Cape Verde as most airport officials did not believe it was a real country, but ever since Cize became world famous, people now know that this is a real country.”

Cesaria Evora, affectionately referred to by locals as Cize was not your typical African heroine. She’s remembered in her island country 400 miles from Dakar, Senegal in West Africa, as much for her haunting voice that got her the name of the Queen of Mornas (a Cape Verdean musical and dance genre,) as she is for her rebellious resilient spirit.

Evora famously refusing to perform in shoes the first time she was invited to perform at Gremio Recreativo, one of the fanciest establishments in the island of Sao Vicente at the time. This earned her the nickname, The Barefoot Diva, and she continued to always perform without shoes on, proudly proclaiming her humble roots. She is also remembered for her stage appearance, always modestly dressed, with a bottle of Cognac on stage and a cigarette in her mouth.

Her songs spoke of love, loss, nostalgia and longing. In Sodade she calls out for her lover who has gone to a far off land abandoning her—this was something she knew well, with her first love at 16 leaving her to go to Europe and several subsequent ones thereafter, leaving her to raise three children on her own. In Ingrata, she mourned about a daughter who leaves her to go across the ocean—a reality only too real in a country where more than 60% of its population lives outside the country. The Cape Verdean story is one of immigration, separation and longing.

To read the full article on Quartz, please click here.

Carnival in Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

The streets of Mindelo in the island of Sao Vicente in the North of Cape Verde come alive for the first weeks of March every year for Carnival. Sao Vicente is one of 10 islands in Cape Verde, best known as the home of the legendary musician, Cesaria Evora.

The country’s second largest island in terms of population has gone from being a mostly uninhabited island until the mid to late 19th century to becoming a cultural powerhouse attracting thousands of visitors to the country each year.

Officially, carnival in Mindelo, Sao Vicente lasts a week, but locals will tell you Carnival fever begins as early as the end of the previous year. While Sao Vicente’s population is 80,000 people, the league which organized this year’s carnival (LIGOCSV) gave an unconfirmed estimate of as many as 50,000 additional visitors to the island for the carnival. This includes visitors from all the other nine islands in Cape Verde in addition to international visitors and press. The estimate is based on the fact that as early as end of December 2018, most hotels and other accommodation were fully booked. All flights to Sao Vicente were full.

This is the second year the Carnival in Sao Vicente has been organized by the league. It is all part of an ambitious plan to professionalize the carnival bring in more revenue for the country.

To access the full article on Quartz, click here.

The Cuban Music Revolution in Senegal

Thierno Koite’s memories of Dakar in the 1960s and 1970s are extremely vivid, “I remember falling asleep on the speakers in various clubs in Dakar as Afro-Cuban music played. At that time, I was a young boy, but I would attend my cousin’s and brother’s rehearsals.”

His cousin Issa Cissohko and his brother Moundaga Koite were part of the founding group of the legendary Afro-Cuban band – Orchestra Baobab. He would eventually join the group as an alto saxophonist when he came of age.

“Dakar was where everyone came to make music,” says the septuagenarian. “There was the Liberian musician [Dexter Johnson] one of the members of Star Band of Dakar—the best known Afro-Cuban band in Senegal founded in 1958. There was Barthélémy Attisso who at the time was a Togolese student at the University of Dakar and a guitarist for the Star Band and Orchestra Baobab.”

Thierno reminisces about a time when Dakar was the capital of French West Africa, attracting people from other African countries and from across the diaspora, Malians, Maghrebis, Beninoises, Cubans—everyone bringing their unique musical influence with them.

Music and revolution

While quite a few groups dominated the scene, none was better known than Star Band de Dakar which introduced some of the country’s most legendary musicians including Grammy Award winning artist, Youssou N’Dour. The band’s entire repertoire was Afro-Cuban—a testament to the anti-imperialist ideals of Cuba and the impact it was having in a country that was trying to free itself from colonial rule and the post-colonial sensibilities that came with it.

The 1959 Cuban Revolution brought with it the ambition by Fidel Castro and his administration to aid African nations in the fight against imperialism. He developed diplomatic ties with newly independent African nations—sending professionals (doctors, teachers), aid workers and diplomats to various African countries in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1978, there were approximately 11,000 Cuban citizens living in Sub-Saharan Africa, and also Cuban bands touring the continent.

For the youth at the time, Cuban music offered an opportunity to portray a cosmopolitan way of life, but one that wasn’t built on the French ideas of progress. Rather it was based on their camaraderie with Cuba, a revolutionary country that proudly identified with its black roots and was considered a modern post-colonial society that Senegalese people could look up to as a model.

This music grew and thrived in Medina, the native quarters of Dakar at the time. It found a home in clubs such as Le Miami, a nightclub where Star Club recorded their entire catalog. Sahel was another nightclub that was home to The Sahel Orchestra – another well-known Afro-cuban jazz group of which Thierno Koite is still part of. It was here where they released an Afro-cuban album called Bamba in mid 1970s that was so popular that it cemented Sahel Club’s place as a place that would attract young musicians from all over Dakar looking to experiment with various latin inspired genres.

To read the full article on Quartz, click here.

The new musical trends taking over Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa

Dancefloors all over the continent are rocking to a new beat – unlike that of previous decades, this new sound is a homegrown one. Africans are increasingly listening to and dancing to African music. What makes this trend even more exciting are all the cross-country collaborations that are bringing musical genres and cultures to other countries. Whether it is Angolan zouk kizomba dance classes in Accra, Kenyan comedians speaking in Nigerian pidgin or Anglophone/Francophone collaborations, one thing is clear – our music is traversing borders in a way that our people might not yet be able to.

In Francophone Africa, there is no ignoring the power and influence of Ivorian Coupé-Décalé. A literal translation of Coupé-Décalé is “to cheat” and “run away.” Having originated in Parisian night clubs in the early 2000s, brought to the French capital by Ivorian DJs, the music initially celebrated Africans who were living the migrant dream, they had struggled as most migrants do and eventually make it -  many times through illegal means. The popularity of the music grew at the time of the first Ivorian Civil War (20002 – 2007) when a dispirited population needed to believe in the migrant dream – of escaping challenges back home and finding fame and fortune abroad.

Coupé-Décalé is extremely percussive featuring deep bass and repetitive minimalist arrangements. Vocals of most songs are usually about looking forward to a better future (e.g. Oudy 1er’s“Never give up”) about enjoying life despite its challenges (e.g. Molare’s “Sauvagement”, “Tu es fou elle est folle”), about an ideal pan-African existence (e.g. Serge Beynaud’s “okeninkpin” and “Kababléké”) and to a lesser extent about making money and living thegood life (e.g. Jodi’s “Beaucoup d’argent”, Dj Arafat’s “Gbinchin Pintin”) – this is in contrast to Nigerian afrobeats where the theme of making and “chopping” money seems to be more central to the theme of enjoying yourself, dancing, letting loose etc. In Ivorian Coupé-Décalé it is clear that dancing comes first, the popping of champagne bottles, the expensive cars and the fancy houses are merely a backdrop for the enjoyment.

When it comes to lyrics, Coupé-Décalé favors simple repetitive lyrics that match well to a dance. There is also an acceptance of a variety of voice types (almost mostly male)– from the raspy sounds of Dj Arafat and Debordo Leekunfa (“Shake your body”, “Apéritif yamoukidi") to the harmonious melodies of Serge Beynaud (“Talehi”, Mawa Naya” “C nous les boss”,) Shado Chris (“J'S8 Jahin Pret”) and Bebi Philip (“Move”, “Balaumba”, “On Va Piétiner”). Most Coupé-Décalé songs have a unique dance that quickly spreads throughout clubs in Abidjan and eventually to other cities. It is a typical sight to have hundreds of people all lined up in a club in Abidjan facing the mirror (as most people dance facing a giant mirror on the dancefloor) dancing for hours to a Coupé-Décalé set in perfect harmony. Coupé-Décalé is to be danced to and lyrics such as “Bougez/move”, “Levez les mains/raise your hands”, “Avancez, Reculez/ Move forward, Move back,” are quite common.  Though extremely quick dance music dominates the Coupé-Décalé scene, special mention must be given to artists who are challenging the status quo. Female musician Josey is managing to get continuous airplay with her slower catchy tunes mostly focusing on love and heartache (“On fait rien avec ca”, “Diplome”.) One thing is for sure – Coupé-Décalé will make you dance – whether you understand the lyrics or not.

From Lusophone Africa (Portuguese speaking countries) – Zouk Kizomba is working its way across African dancefloors and radio stations. Dominated by artists from Angola and Cape Verde, this sweet, seductive sound is winning converts, even if only a small fraction of the continent speaks Portuguese. Kizomba is the evolution of an Angolan dance genre from the 1950s – semba and its marriage with a Cape Verdean musical genre – Passada. Cape Verdean immigrants to France in the 1980s encountered Compas – a musical style from Dominica, French Antilles, Martinique and Guadeloupe. They incorporated its beats and rhythms to it and this musical genre got imported back to Cape Verde – not difficult to do for a country where more of its citizens live outside the country than inside it (Cape Verde.) The music spread through Portuguese speaking countries and when it made its way to Angola, it had the effect of slowing down the tempo of semba dances. Today this musical genre is famous in lusophone Africa and beyond and goes by various names including zouk kizomba, kizomba etc.

Stylistically kizomba has a slow, insistent, sensuous rhythm created via electronic percussion. It is danced accompanied by a partner, very smoothly, slowly and sensuously. There are frequent simultaneous hip rotations between dance partners, particularly in the quieter refrains of the music – and quiet refrains are quite common in kizomba. This is a dance for lovers. The main theme of zouk kizomba is love, longing and loss.

Contemporary kizomba musicians and songs to watch out for are: Cape Verdean, Netherlands based musician Nelson Freitas (“Rebound chick”, “Miúda Linda”, “Something good”, “Simple girl”), Angolan C4 Pedro (“Bo tem mel”, “African beauty”, “Spexta one”, “Robocop”), Congolese Kaysha’s kizomba remixes of US hits (“Diamonds”, “Drunk in love”, “All of me”), Cape Verdean, France based Jennifer Dias (“Sorry remix”, “I need you so”, “Viens danser”, “Reste avec moi” and “Femmes Fatales 5”.) You will definitely fall in love with kizomba and its enchanting beats and the angelic voices behind the music.

Last and definitely not least is music from Anglophone Africa. Nigerian afrobeats has taken over the continent resulting in several cross-country collaborations (J. Martins featuring Dj Arafat “Touchin Body”, Diamond featuring Davido, “Number one”, Diamond Platnumz Ft Mr Flavour “Nana”) and interesting remixes that cut across language barriers. Modern day Nigerian afrobeats clearly marks the country’s cultural dominance on the continent. First Nollywood, now the music – Nigeria is quickly determining what is considered as contemporary African culture. The influence of contemporary Nigerian music has gone even beyond African borders to the West. D-Banj’s “Oliver Twist” and “Fall in love” are as much at home in clubs in Lagos, Kampala and Durban as they are in London, Boston or Amsterdam. Davido & Meek-Mill’s (“Fans mi”), P-Square and Rick Ross’ (“Beautiful Onyinye”) – Afro-beats, hiphop collaborations are now becoming commonplace.

Nigerian afro-beats was initially typified by the presence of the talking drum, but electronic music is increasingly replacing traditional percussion instruments. Nigerian afrobeats is now best known by the use of some key elements – Nigerian pidgin, modern Ankara outfits (Tiwa Savage, Chindinma, Yemi Alade etc.) In terms of themes, the overarching one is wealth, fame and fortune (Davido ft. Olamide “The money”, P-Square ft. Don Jazzy “Collabo”). Sub-themes are (i) Religious gratitude for fame and fortune (Koredo Bello’s “Godwin”, Yemi Alade “Na gode” and Wizkid’s“Ojualegba”) (ii) Love mostly ending in a grand engagement or marital bliss, wealth, fame and fortune (a grand wedding with breathtaking views, Bentleys in the background, private jets landing, speedboats carrying champagne and dollars, foreign violinists is usually required for this.) e.g. Flavour Ft. Chidinma “Ololufe”, D’Banj’s “Fall in love”, Flavour “Ada ada”, Davido’s “Aye” and Tiwa Savage’s “My Darlin’.”

Of course there are some outlier songs and artists in the Nigerian afro-beats sphere, though the typical song that crosses the continent tends to follow the three main themes above. Credit has to be given to Nigerian afro-jazz/soul musician Omawumi for “If you ask me”, tackling the issue of incest and abuse. A song that will not soon be forgotten is Yemi Alade’s “Johnny” on dealing with serial philanderers. We cannot forget the strong neo-feminist stance of Tiwa Savage’s “Kele kele love” or the absolute dance-ability of Burna Boy’s “Yawa Dey” or Patoranking’s “Mywoman.”

No matter what one’s opinions are about the subject matter of the music, we do have to accept that it is an exciting thing indeed to see Africans embracing music by our own people, in our languages, telling our own stories. This is part of a larger cultural trend seeing Africans looking inside to reclaim what we might have lost. As the Sankofa bird symbol of the Akan tribe reminds us, “It is not taboo to go back to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”