Afropop Worldwide

It's a late-year Friday and we could all use some warmth, so we're grateful that frequent Afropop contributor and DJ-on-our-frequency Morgan Greenstreet, AKA Modrums, just dropped another hour-long mix of utter bliss.

This is the second mix of the music that animated Afro-diasporic Paris in the '80s and '90s, where immigrants from West Africa, Congo and the Caribbean discovered they had quite a bit in common and quite a bit to teach each other.

“There definitely was a shared aesthetic created by necessity, through economic immigration and cohabitation, both literally and in the clubs” Morgan said in an email. “They made these records to be played on dance floors, so they tightened the form to the essential elements and focused on what made people dance: the zouk, the sebene, the drums and guitars.”

This melding of zouk and elements of soukous led Morgan to coin the term “Zoukous.” He told us this second volume is the “uptempo hot heart of the party,” and to expect some twists when volume three is released.

“I've been playing this music as a DJ on dance floors all over NYC and in Europe and it connects so well with people regardless of background and previous exposure to similar music,” he said. “Also, with my new band Loboko, we've had a tremendous amount of support from the beginning. It's exciting music that deserves to be heard, celebrated and danced to!”

Here's the tracklist for Zoukous Vol. 2:

"Zairean Stars Show in the U.S." - 4 Stars

"Liza" - Kanda Bongo Man

"Pingui Bill" - Loketo

"Mami Lolo" - Jean Baron & Loketo

"Le Monde Est Fou" - Otis Mbuta & Matchatcha

"Massavi" - Denis Loubassou

"Sauce Bloquée"- Syran Mbenza

"Nous Bizoin Ça Pou Kimbé" - Mazout'

"'Sé Dam' Bonjou" - Kassav

"Zouk Zombi" - Zouk All Stars

"Ameya" - Geo Bilongo

"Zongonn" - Jacob Desvarieux & Georges Decimus

"No Make Erreur" - Lapiro De M'banga

"Anonfantsuelo" - Monique Séka

"N'kembo Ma" - Heli Plaisir