10 African Albums of 2011
Tinariwen
Tassili
Mali
Quote: “I go quietly to pay Mizgawa a little visit.”
FOKN Bois meet Irie Maffia Production
The FOKN DunaQuest In Budapest
Ghana/Hungary
Quote: “We see demma Maffia side, but now everything be Irie.”
Seun Kuti
Nigeria
Quote: “Our ear don’t fool for your words, our stomach still empty.”
Teck-Zilla
Nigeria/Canada
Quote: “No lyrics, just snippets.”
El Rego
Benin
Quote: “This isn’t the sort of one-world pabulum available in your Whole Foods check-out line.”
Boubacar Traoré
Mali
Quote: “There’s all kinds of things in the idea of Midnight.”
Various Artists
Bambara Mystic Soul – “The Raw Sound of Burkina Faso 1974-1979.”
Burkina Faso
Quote: “The record documents a time prior to the military coups.”
Blitz The Ambassador
Ghana/US
Quote: “I don’t know what the future holds.”
Amerigo Gazaway
US/Nigeria
Quote: “For this one I was basically trying to recreate the Jake One beat using Fela Kuti samples.”
Various Artists
Chief Boima presents Lone Stars: Hipco and Gbema Vol. 1
Liberia
Quote: “After we ate, and the son and his friends performed for the guests, we all sat through a lecture by the politician’s wife on how being a musician wasn’t a serious job.”
If people still bought full albums…we would suggest them buying these 10 from 2011 for their friends — like we did. (List compiled with Sean Jacobs.)
