"If you're not angry, what kind of person are you?" is the first line in "Sleepwalking (Black Man's Cry)," a confrontational new single by Afro-dub band Soothsayers featuring Afrobeat legend, Dele Sosimi. It is a message to the people of today, seemingly lulled to a dream-like state of complacency by our phones, social media and shallow entertainment while the world continues to spin in chaos.
What better vehicle to deliver this critical message than the music of the iconic Fela Kuti? This song covers the music of Fela's hit "Black Man's Cry" with fresh call-and-response, chant-like lyrics.
This is the second single from Soothsayers' upcoming album, Tradition, to be released on June 29. Today, Afropop premieres the video accompanying this song which features black-and-white footage from decades past but predominantly from the '60s, a time of notable turmoil and change around the world. It includes clips of Angela Davis, Martin Luther King's "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech, Nelson Mandela and the Black Panther Party, juxtaposed with seemingly frivolous scenes of game shows, concerts, people dancing, swimming in pools and celebrities. It is an active and visually stimulating video, and the heavy horns and percussion match its intensity. Check it out below.
To purchase the limited seven-inch vinyl and digital download of "Sleepwalking," along with Soothsayers' cover of the Bob Marley classic "Natural Mystic," click here.
