Afriquoi return with a powerful full band sound, closer than ever before to the live sound that has seen them exhilirate crowds worldwide, from Glastonbury West Holts to Dimensions, WOMAD to Boomtown.
Recorded at Octagon Studios in Brixton, engineered by Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist/Onipa) and mastered at the world-famous Metropolis Studios, the song warns of what happens when one person stands apart from the group. Sung in the Mandinka language of Gambia and Southern Senegal, the chorus means:
Kulu Baliya Mabeteya – It is not good to be rude
Mali Baliya Mabeteya – It’s not good to be face-ty (shameless)
Kora player Jally Kebba Susso explains: “what the words are saying, it’s saying that somebody have to be very careful of your action. For me, it’s telling me that karma is a bitch!! If you are rude, before you find out, you are lonely. It’s about connection of reality and not wish-wash wish-wash. Everybody get what they are supposed to get.”
Singer Andre Espeut adds: “ ‘Find out and learn find out and learn lonely’ talks about
how you can go through and learn from experience, but sometimes when you do things which can be bad/harmful/fiesty to others, you may end up being lonely so beware.”
This is the first track of a 4 track EP on Mawimbi records due for release in January 2020.
credits
released November 15, 2019
Written by:
Kebba Suso; Ngoy Lusambo; Andre Espeut; André Marmot; Oliver Cole; Nico Bentley
Engineered by Tom Excell at Octagon Studios; mastered by Andy ‘Hippy’ Baldwin at Metropolis Studios
Performers:
Jally Kebba Susso: Kora, tama, vox
André Espeut: vox
Fiston Lusambo: guitar
André Marmot: percussion
Nico Bentley: keys, bass
Oli Cole: programming
Nicolas Simpson: backing vocals
