This is a splintered snarling plea from Yao Bobby to politicians across Africa and the people they are supposed to represent. A loud blistering plea to all the corrupt leaders to change their ways. It’s an uncompromising cocktail of sharp heartfelt lyrics and a severe blast of distortion and feedback with driving menacing rhythms courtesy of Simon Grab.
Yao’s lyrics are a loud voice that demands putting words into action, and realising promises that were made for change – not just in his home country Togo, but all over Africa, which needs to break free from remnants of colonialist shackles, and the general plague of greed & selfishness, which seems to come hand in hand with ‘power’.
Simon Grab goes fully hard knocks on this one he builds on tensions from within the system itself, inhaling its own dirt until it is bulbous like a balloon about to burst. But this is no kids party type clown balloon – this balloon is made out of concrete. You’ve been warned.
On the flip, we got ‘Church’ – On this track, Yao asks his fellow african brothers and sisters to stop looking to god for problems to be solved. Face reality and recognise the change that needs to come – not just from the outside, but also from within.
Here, Simon Grab lets the turmoil unfoil with a hair-raisingly resonant bass pulse that comes on like a thunderstorm of dancehall rhythmics in XXXplosive mode. Pure, and undiluted heaviness – because sometimes fixing things is not good enough, often, for real change – something needs to break.
The tracks are the final breath of fire from the explosion of their recent album ‘Wum‘ served up on LAVALAVA
Edition of 100.
Comes with DL (and a secret bonus track).
hand-stamped, served in printed sleeve.
Mastered by Dan Suter, and cut by Flo Kaufmann, pressed at Ramona.
Yao Bobby
Since the 1990s, Yao Bobby has been making his mark as an activist in African rap and has participated in building up a Pan-African hip hop movement. His artistic earmarks are strong lyrics in French and Ewe and a surprising flow. He has released on Nomadic Wax New York and has been featured on many albums. He lives in Agbodrafo Togo where he opened up a small cultural centre for music and arts, with exhibitions, concerts and community works, also showing his recyclart sculptures he creates from found objects and trash.
Simon Grab
Simon Grab has been on the experimental electronic music path since the early 90s, with forays into punk, jungle and dub. With his solo works he releases material on -ous Records in Zurich and sound-space in London. His recent musical hyperactivity led to a collaboration with Duma (Kenya, Nyege Nyege), Deaf Kids (Brasil) and Petbrick (UK, Brasil).
