Afropop Worldwide

These few tracks are some of our preliminary selections from the scantily labeled mix CDs and flash drives that senior producers Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow scored on their recent trip to Ghana. On this mixtape- like the hip deep programs that we are currently producing- we tried to give you a little taste of a few of the different styles currently co-existing in Ghanaian popular music scene. From azonto and hiplife to cultural group highlife, these are 100 percent certified USDA straight bangers and head-nodders! Stay tuned for more to come! [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/6180770" params="" width=" 100%" height="450" iframe="true" /] A-Boyz- Lapaz Toyota Cover (Prod by Dani Weezi) While they called this a 'cover' and a 'remix,' A-Boyz actually only used the beat of Guru's tune Lapaz Toyota to sing their own song. This is a similar to how Jamaican dance-hall artists use common 'riddims' to voice their songs. We are noticing this phenomenon of 'covers' occurring more often in Ghanaian pop music lately. Unknown Artist- Unknown Song Any information is welcome! We just loved this track too much not to include it on this mixtape. From the instrumental sounds of the track, our best guess is that this is Hausa pop from the north of Ghana, but the English lyrics are clearly intended for a wider Ghanaian and international market. Awal- Massacre (Prod by ODB Records) Amazing flow from Sarkodie's protegé Awal! This is hiplife pre-Azonto style! R2Bees - Odo (Prod. By KillBeatz) A really catchy contemporary highlife tune from R2Bees, who are becoming better known for their hip-life and azonto. They insert a verse or two in the middle of this tune to remind their listeners of their other work, but mostly this is the kind of highlife tune that Accra housewives BLAST at 6 am while they do the washing! Keche - Body Lotion Straight azonto groove for the dancers! We love the digital cowbells and the effects on the vocals! Atongo Zimba- No Beer In Heaven Atongo is an international recording artist, a traditional musician from the north of Ghana who delivered this irreverent drinking song several years back...let's just say folks are still singing along in the drinkings spots of Accra! Check out that steel-drum solo! FOKN Bois- Sexin Islamic Girls The provocative duo strikes again, confounding and titillating with their excellent production, totally insensitive lyrics, and challenging ideas. Watch the music video here. Wulomei- Naa adu Lastly, but not leastly, a track from the currently active Ga cultural group Wulomei, who play traditional and original songs with guitars, harmonized vocals and highlife-style kpanlogo drum accompaniment. Cultural groups of this kind, while not exactly popular, are extremely common in Accra, and inform the grooves of azonto and other popular dance music.