AfriPOP! shares tunes with two of music’s most revered crate diggers – Bobbito Garcia and Rich Medina

Arriving in South Africa in 2000 was a trip for Bobbito Garcia. (He even tells the folks at friends we love so). Hosting his legendary WCKR Hip-hop radio show with Stretch Armstrong he had some idea about its global reach. But touring with fellow New Yorkers, DJ/producer Mr. Len (Company Flow) and Jean Grae (then called WhutWhut), he got the full picture. Metropolis – dingy, rickety downtown club that it was – is institutionalized in Joburg Hip-hop’s short history. It’s where mostly teenaged local rappers, lyrical by-products of the New York underground rap scene ciphered, channeling their American idols verbatim. Performing here the trio became the first US Hip-hop acts to do so in post-1994 South Africa.

Bobbito and Rich Medina turn up the funk at their Happy Feet party

And that’s the back story to the two South African tracks Bobbito subsequently released on his now defunct imprint Fondle ‘Em Records: Blaze tha Breaks by Cashless Society and Place for a Wife by Mizchif.

Exposing the under-exposed is a constant thread between Bobbito’s various hustles:  street baller, magazine editor, author, club DJ etc.  He shares this passion with 20-year-long friend Rich Medina with whom he has compiled The Connection Volume 1: Modern Explorations in Afro-Beat and Afro-Latin.

Not to be confused with Connecting the Dots, Rich’s 2008 stellar compilation of Hip-hop, jazz, soul, broken and afro beat records. The Philly poet/producer/songwriter/DJ/promoter masterminded Jump N Funk, a Fela Kuti tribute party series that’s gathered 8 years’ worth of renown in the US, UK and greater Europe.

You can sort of see why here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHiinCxx_ck]

So logically, Rich handles the afro beat half of the double disc. While the Latino leanings are left to Bob who with this album, marks his second venture with R2 records following his 2003 compilation Earthtones: Music from the Latin diaspora.

Now when the two came to London to promote the album we flipped the format on the column Bobbito used to write for VIBE magazine. We played current tracks from AfriPOP stars and they shared their thoughts.

K’NAAN – FIRE IN FREETOWN

Bobbito: Who is it?

AfriPOP: It’s K’Naan. He’s a Somalian MC based in Canada. This is my favourite song of his. I’d never heard anyone likening that consuming passion of love to civil war.

Rich Medina: I had an interesting meeting of him in New York. He came to me and Q-Tip’s party at Santos. I’m in the DJ booth and he just kinda comes in and puts his coat down. On my records. So I walk up to him like ‘dude, you got your coat on my records. I don’t come to your job and throw my coat on your desk!’ I mean its 01h00 in the morning so man, I’m heated!

But he was real cool he was like ‘I apologise, I didn’t mean any disrespect.’  That’s when I recognized him, cos I have his music and stuff.  I was like oh man, I’m sorry, my bad!

Bobbito: It’s the type of song which makes me wanna close my eyes and listen to it and not just casually. It got my attention immediately. You know that folky bit before the drums kick in it immediately took me to my childhood. My cousin and I used to visit my aunt in Cape Cod, Massachusetts which is like a really rural area. We went fishing there for hours one day and it was the most peaceful feeling in the world. Just a sort of do-nothing moment in my childhood that I find solace in. So it took me there. But then when the drum beat came in all of a sudden I was in Africa!

Rich Medina: He reminds me of singers like Angelique Kidjo, Salif Keita. Some of my favourite vocalists who are the most perfect pitch trained. Just the sincerity, like I believed every note that came out of his mouth.

BLK JKS – LAKESIDE

B: Is this South African?

AP: Yeah the group is called Blk Jks. They’ve been on tour in the US, they’re in the UK now. They’ve had quite a lot of good press. Someone from the Fader magazine put them on and manages them.

B: Oh word? That’s totally a fader magazine group

RM: It sounded really big kind of in the beginning with so much going on and then it went kind of … what’s the word….?

AP: Paul Simon?

RM: Something like that. (Laughs)

B: Early in the tune for me it was reminiscent of Joshua Tree U2 and it started making me think about college. And then it took me to an unknown place. Sometimes in music I feel like I need to be in the context where an artist comes from to digest it properly. That’s how it was for me with drum and bass initially. I came to London to the Notting Hill carnival and I saw the sound systems and black people dancing to drum and bass. And then I got it. So I think that’s a song where I would wanna see it live.

ZAKI IBRAHIM – MONEY (KING BRITT MIX)

RM: Is that Zaki Ibrahim?  I know this song. I love the way she sings that!

AP: You know her? She’s South African.

RM: Yeah, I know. She’s cool.  Bob, I introduced you to her in New York. I was in the studio when that mix was being made. The guy playing percussion on this track is one of my son’s favourite uncles.

I think Zaki is part of the new avant-garde. She could do some of the things that Zap Mama has done.  We had dinner in New York and talked about setting up studio time in the summer. God willing we’ll be spending a nice chunk of time in the studio come August. I’m really looking forward to it.

B: Yo, that sounds like a song Rich and I might have to sign up to the Connection Volume 2!

AP: How did you decide on the Connection’s track listings?

B: Ten of the twelve I selected are recorded in the last twelve years, only two are from the past era. We are hoping that we can uncover artists or songs that may be under the radar. And not just for the sake of being obscure but, you know, beautiful music that needs to be heard and represents what Rich and I do when we have a dialogue behind the turntables

AP: We love Frank Biyong.

B: They only pressed 300 copies so it’s super duper rare. I’m happy that Rich got it on there. The interesting thing about the Frank Beyond is when I saw Rich’s track listing, it was the only song I actually knew!

AP: So what was your approach Rich?

RM: I looked at the compilation market place and what’s been out there for the last 5 to 10 years. I really wanted to touch a space within afro beat which hasn’t been addressed which is the current day avant garde of the genre. Meaning everything from full-on Igbo, pidgin English-speaking Nigerian cats to American house music producers with church backgrounds who incorporate the Tony Allen drum perspective into their records. I wanted to touch on what’s been sitting on the fringe as far as what people have looked at as afro beat and prove to them it’s not on the fringe at all and as a matter of fact its closer to home than they realize.

The Connection Volume 1: Modern Explorations in Afro-Beat and Afro-Latin is available  in cd/digital/vinyl formats worldwide now on R2 and drops in the States on May 12. (See www.r2records.com for details)