Habibi Funk

If you have yet to experience Konono No. 1's 2004 "Congotronics" debut on Belgian imprint Crammed Discs, then stop what you are doing and tune in asap. The groundbreaking album "introduced the world to the strange and spectacular electro-traditional mixtures being concocted in the suburbs of Kinshasa, Congo", by a band originally founded back in the 1960s by Mingiedi Mawangu, a legendary Iikembé (a traditional instrument consisting of metal rods attached to [...]

Back in 2014, the Jewish Monkeys performed at the International Klezmer Festival in Fürth, Bavaria. Among our favourite live recordings from the concert is this rambling rendition of their ode to the fictive female temptress "Luba Lubaviczer", who had the boys in quite an infatuated frenzy. But hear for yourselves. Let's just say the audience got it's fair share of 'oy's:

"Petrosilia / Che Guevara
Rojte Paprika / Mata Hari
Superwomen / Metaplastik
[...]

In a brilliant TEDx talk Simon Broughton (writer, film maker and Editor-in-Chief of Songlines Magazine ) shares his take on music's transformative power, on how music reveals our humanity, brings people together and has the potential to break down prejudices. Take this encounter with a Dutch DJ performing at the West African Fes Festival for example: "I love Iranian music. Why? Because it makes me realize that Iranians are also human beings." Watch [...]

Tel Aviv's charismatic, psychedelic and incredibly musical Surf-outfit Boom Pam had the honor of performing live at the closing concert of the 23rd Jewish Culture Festival in Munich, in 2009. For their breathtaking half-hour performance they were joined on stage by fellow multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Kutiman, each delivering some heated freestyle exchanges. Watch two of Israel's premier underground acts win over the festival-sized crowd in [...]

A few years back, Bashir and Kamir (alias Krimau), two Rouen-based DJs, passionate record collectors and sons of North African immigrants themselves, launched their ongoing quest to rediscover their own musical heritage.

They began digging for records of Maghreb origin, involving regular trips to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, in an attempt to reappropriate the North African diaspora’s vintage sounds from the 1950s to the 1970s and in turn, make this music [...]

Today, 55 years ago, Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. The country is home to Africa’s largest population, over 500 spoken languages as well as a wide array of ancient cultural traditions.

Among the artists reviving some of these traditions in the musical sense is Lágbájá. Since his emergence in the early 90s, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning Nigerian Afropop singer/saxophonist has been among the nation’s most audible and [...]

Fresh on the heels of last night's 'supermoon' lunar eclipse, we decided now would be the right time to introduce you to the otherworldly electronic sounds of pioneering Afro-Peruvian soundsystem Novalima and their latest album, suitably entitled “Planetario" (planetarium), released on Brooklyn's Wonderwheel Recordings back in June.

Initially founded by four friends from Lima, sharing a mutually deep passion for traditional Afro-Peruvian music and global DJ [...]

Little do many know about the history of Jewish gangsters in early 20th century America or the so-called Kosher Nostra movement of Jewish organized crime with its key figures the likes of Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Mickey Cohen or Bugsy Siegel. As an estimated two million jews emigrated from Eastern Europe between 1881 and 1914 (New York alone counted 1.7 million Jews in 1910), they were met with a new struggle for survival in the New World, [...]

On our global search for extraordinary material, we recently stumbled upon this sublime documentary on Cambodia's emerging music scene during the 60's and 70s, creating a sound clearly composed of Western influences yet distinctly their own:

"Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping, America, England and France, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music. The beautiful singing of their [...]

Brian Shimkovitz has been at the forefront of digging culture for more than a decade now, making obscure finds and unbelievable material available to a larger public via his notorious Awesome Tapes From Africa (AFTA) imprint: "This is music you won't easily find anywhere else – except, perhaps in its region of origin."

Staying true to their word, AFTA recently shared a brilliant two-sided mixtape by Sudanese legend Salah Mustafa, who according to the [...]

Born out of the very first World Conference on Music and censorship back in 1998, Freemuse, "an independent international membership organisation advocating and defending freedom of expression" in music across the globe, continues to play a major role in exposing worldwide inequalities. Personally, we've been supporting and following their activities for quite some time now and receive regular updates via their highly informative newsletter.

For example, [...]

Ghanaian artist/singer Azizaa and rapper/director Wanlov the Kubolor are at the forefront of an open-minded generation in Ghana that is increasingly starting to question the omnipotence of colonially imposed Christianity in the country, while elements of local culture and tradition are publicly rejected or consciously suppressed.

In a recent interview with The Fader the two sat down to discuss the current situation in Ghana, the big business that is religion [...]