Depths of Dakar is now available. Sparks incite fires. A single idea, passion followed, promise made good. We have an endless fusion of words to describe the pursuit of bliss. But the road is fraught with obstacles--little money, hardship, doubt. For drummer and producer Benny Herson, African...
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Depths of Dakar is now available. Sparks incite fires. A single idea, passion followed, promise made good. We have an endless fusion of words to describe the pursuit of bliss. But the road is fraught with obstacles--little money, hardship, doubt. For drummer and producer Benny Herson, African Underground Vol. 1 is a cycle completing itself in many ways. A young American in the West African cradle of so much contemporary music, Herson managed to turn local poets into international hip hop acts. The connection between hip-hop and Africa should be obvious, so obvious as to be easily overlooked. The Dakar-based band Daara J point to practitioners of the Senegalese tasso tradition as elder statesmen to New York's lyrical acrobats, with the loquacious West African griots of old before them. African storytelling traditions remain vibrant in their pure forms, and are endlessly refracted in blues-, rock- and funk-based styles emerging from all corners of the world. Hip-hop today is the busiest venue of all, with thousands of rap artists flow over hard-bassed 80 bpm tracks nightly.
Herson's passion for rhythm led him to spend the summers of '98-'00 in Dakar, writing his Amherst College thesis project on the social and political implications of hip-hop in Senegalese life. Words on paper don't allow someone to hear the music, however, and so he returned after school to record a host of artists in a makeshift community-center-turned-recording-studio. Herson laid down beats and rappers showcased their tightest flows. Released that year in Senegal under the title Deglul (the Wolof word for "listen"), this 14-track compilation earmarked a moment in an art form that is both new and old to this young African community.
Four years later, and Herson continues to push the dream forward. Establishing his own label, Nomadic Wax, the drummer and "field" recorder now turns businessman. His timing is spot-on as global influences continue to be devoured by American rappers. More fortunate is the fact that the disc stands time's wry test (four years is a generation in modern music), that the music behind the story is as good as one could hope. Herson is flexible as beat-miner and producer, keeping African Underground Vol. 1 rhythmically diverse, as the lyricists rap their minds in rhyme.
After hearing Shiffai's two cuts (the autobiographical "Shiffai" and "Never Forget," homage to a decease friend) it's not surprising Nomadic Wax also released his solo album. Shiffai twists Wolof and English into one dialect, adding French patois into his pidgin stew, more easily felt than dissected. Thiaooary native Ozmo is another top choice (the label promises a future full-length), a refined, well-defined approach reminiscent of chilled out versions of A Tribe Called Quest. That doesn't quell the fire in his voice: "Missalu Aduna" ("The Philosophy of Life") raises a clenched fist at the World Bank and globalization, a direct attack rapped on the sly.
Most artists here use the opportunity to raise the volume with driving semantics. The record doubles as sonically focused recording and political testament frozen in turn-of-the-century Senegal. It is both oral history and club-ready rocker, making a lesson of life and vice-versa. However small the world may have gotten, we've still a long way to go in the marketing and production of international music in America. While we explore the vast libraries of musicologists like Alan Lomax and David Fanshawe, younger adventurers travel with laptops and 21st century visions. One of those, Ben Herson has stamped something genuine and permanent into the fast-unfolding history of African hip-hop.
Contributed by: Derek Beres for www.afropop.org
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