#we famous

[unclegarou]

damn guys...

[misimslegacy]

[sapphiccity]

And as a bonus, Shelley giving a shout out to my Twitter group chat ‘Aw Shit’. We were pretty much the only people watching her live 😂

[apileofshithasathousandeyes]

TikTok - Make Your Day

[dustedmagazine]

Kondi Band — We Famous (Strut)

We Famous by The Kondi Band

This second outing from Sierra Leonian thumb piano master Sorie Kondi and DJ Chef Boima, continues to explore the intersection of traditional rhythms and Western dance beats. These cuts emphasize the hypnotic, multi-tonal syncopations of the Kondi, a mbira-like instrument from Sierra Leone, and the elemental vocals of a pre-electric tradition, yet present them within the context of pulsing electronics. Critically, though, the context never overwhelms the music, just updates it a bit and puts it in sharper focus.

The disc opens the brief “We Famous,” setting the groundwork with all extraneous elements stripped back. We hear just the staccato patter of kondi paired with deep-voiced call and response. A piano joins soon after, echoing the complex patterns of percussive melody and Westernizing the sound just a touch. “Shake Your Tumba” builds on this foundation, but dials up the tension with a glitchy beat and club-worthy echoes. The tumba, whatever it is, feels fully shaken.

Two singles feature guest singers, an addition which does haul Kondi Band’s aesthetic into the 21st century. Mariama Jalloh trills and flutes and melisma-lizes like a modern pop diva against pre-modern drone and syncopation in “She Doesn’t Love You.” “It’s God’s World” thumps with resounding momentum, supplied by LA musician and producer Sweatson Klank.

I liked Kondi Band’s mystical qualities on the first full-length, Salone, of which I wrote, “This combination of constant kinetic movement and sustained vocals gives the music a curious aura of serenity in flux.” We Famous feels a bit more hedonistic, a bit more removed from the older elements. And yet, it is very good at capturing the radiant runs of kondi, the dusky interplay of men’s voices engaged in singing discourse.  “Fatou,” especially, captures the exotic propulsion, the communal celebratory-ness that this band is capable of, embellishing it only slightly with synth blasts.

There’s no question that people dance to this music, whether in its original, African form, or here, slightly altered by a member of the African diaspora. It’s a bit of a hybrid, but authentic in its own way to two traditions, meeting not seamlessly, but in pursuit of the same body-moving objectives.

Jennifer Kelly

[righteous-side-of-h3ll]

@garfieldsnudes

[seenthatcolorblue]

I saw a lot of mike wazowksi and sully costumes yesterday @ikywts