Hommage A Zanzibar [Lp]

No shortage of colorful characters emerged from Cameroon's bikutsi scene in the 1980's and early 90's. Gibraltar Drakus is one of the most enduring and enigmatic of the artists who helped transform bikutsi into a beautifully endless fabric of triplet rhythms that eventually reached ears around the world. Following the advent of Cameroon Radio Television in 1987, bikutsi began to supplant makossa and soukous for domination of the local airwaves and the attention of cosmopolitan, thrill-seeking residents of Cameroon's capital Yaound and beyond. Biktusi perfectly fused Beti traditional music and increasingly electronic, highly rhythmic guitar-based bikutsi. Mimicking the sound of village-based xylophone music by rigging a mute to electric guitar strings, bikutsi artists provided a relentlessly energetic dance format for those with a taste for music steeped in their hometown sensibility (countering the popular makossa that many felt sounded less indigenous).By the early 1990's, Les Tetes Br l es were indisputably the most famous and influential artists in bikutsi, due in part to the innovations of their incendiary guitarist Th odore Zanzibar Epeme. Following their first European tour in 1987, the band blew up internationally but Zanzibar tragically, and mysteriously, passed away, which nearly brought an end to the band completely. In hindsight, the consensus among most Cameroonians is Zanzibar's contributions to biktusi were transformational and immeasurable. Swept up in all

Tracks

1~1~N'nom Wom (Mon Poux)
1~2~Exode Rural 06:07
1~3~O Zanzibar
1~4~Mekeya A Dzal (Retour Au Village)

Details

Format: Vinyl LP
Artist: Drakus, Gibraltar
Release Date: 11 August 2023
Genre: World Music
Label: Awesome Tapes From Africa
Distributor: Rocket Group