Chopteeth is a DC-based 14-piece Afrofunk orchestra, mixing Fela Kuti inspired Afrobeat, modern jazz, Yoruba tribal music, James Brown-inspired rhythms, Ghanaian dance tunes, Senegalese rumba and Jamaican ska. They have their debut album coming out on the 23rd, which features a collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, but you can pick it up a few days early at the CD release show tomorrow (9/20/2008).
We got them to hook us up with a few tracks + commentary by the band, enjoy!
This song was the last one composed and recorded for the album, and was written out of frustration with the general state of mainstream society in America. The chorus uses that sluggish late-summer state of mind–when the eyelids start to droop as the heat rises–as a metaphor for this time and this place (with that one ray of hope at around 4:40…). The underlying rhythms are rooted loosely in afrobeat, but with a distinctly american spin.
“Upendo” means “love” in Swahili, and this song is about putting aside our differences to work toward shared progress and community, the kind of love that makes us all better people. The music was crafted in a loosely South African vein, with swirling guitars and punchy horns, and the lyrics are by band member Anna Mwhalagho of Kenya, who also has a solo career as a poet, dancer and actress.
This song was co-written and recorded with our good friend Cheick Hamala Diabate of Mali, who will be joining Chopteeth for a couple of righteous tunes on Saturday night! Cheick is a traditional griot and acknowledged master of the ngoni (West African precursor to the banjo). “Wili Nineh” is based on a centuries old song performed to recognize the coming of age of young people, particularly orphans. He is singing, “No one has spoken for this child, and so no one has listened to him/her. Now (s)he is a (wo)man, rising up. So listen!” Cheick received a Grammy nomination last year, and we are excited to be producing his next album…stay tuned.
This song is based on an old Ghanaian funk tune from a 70s-era band called Marijata. We’ve taken the rhythms, horns and chorus and added some DC flava, with politically charged Mayor of DC Hip-Hop, Head-Roc guesting. You can’t miss the basic sentiment. Get up! Heady will be rocking this and another tune with Chopteeth on Saturday night.
Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band
w/ Cheick Hamala Diabate
Head-Roc
Farafina Kan
and DJ Nitekrawler
Saturday, September 20
The Black Cat Mainstage
1811 14th St. NW
All ages—$15
9PM
