I just call it Afro-Fusion

June 24, 2023 5:47 AM

Happy Pride Month! The Ghanaian-American musician Amaarae [Wikipedia] just released her sophomore album Fountain Baby [YT playlist, NPR review] earlier this month. Working loosely within "pop music" in the west, she often finds herself on the outside in her native Accra. Here she talks with KEXP in 2021 with some pandemic acoustic performances. [41m] For a fuller context, here's a talk/discussion about Nigerian and Ghanaian music [Vimeo, 1h10m, rather scholarly but good] and how the alté/alternate music scene fits into the complex world of African music culture featuring Amaarae as a primary example.

That final video is a bit "college symposium" in flavor, but I found it informative.

Thank you to stinker for mentioning her.

posted by hippybear (3 comments total)

Thank you for posting the link to the documentary, I'm sharing that with a friend who lived in Ghana during the 1970s. I was a kid in Nigeria during the early 1980s. Funny to hear Fela Kuti referred to as "punk" but it makes sense. Some of his kids carry the torch, but it's hard to shine quite so brightly as Fela.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:00 AM on June 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Love Amaarae!
posted by ellieBOA at 11:24 AM on June 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks hippybear for coming back.
posted by bendy at 9:42 PM on June 24, 2023