yardie's reggae collection - artist page

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ALPHA BLONDY (1953 - ) APARTHEID IS NAZISM * * * * 1985 - EM I- studio - discs:1 Seydou Kone aka Alpha Blondy was born in Ivory Coast (Africa) in 1953. In the late 70's he was studying in NYC and here he started to approach Rastafari and jamaican music. In 1982 appeared his first single "Brigadier Sabari". Followed a series of albums that brought huge success in Africa and international attention. Blondy sings in English, French and Dioula language. This mixture does not stop to the languages used in the lyrichs but include Blondy's African musical heritage. The result is Reggae - sometimes a little bit too much funkysh - enriched with African elements. Since Jamaican-Rastafari artists look to Africa, is perfectly fitting that African artists look to their Jamaican brothers. The lyrics are political about African problems and international ones too. The most powerful track, musically speaking, is "Jah Houphouet". Very powerful! This is an almost one-drop deep and hard tune which could have been recorded from Marley at the middle of his career. Here the vibes flow immediately. The rest needs some more time to be completely appreciated due to the above mentioned mixtures.