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Album review
Positive Black Soul
Run Cool
Paris
30/03/2001 -
RFI/Musique met up with Positive Black Soul's frontmen, Didier Awadi and Doug E Tee, the day after their concert at La Cigale in Paris and asked them a few questions about PBS's new album and the current state of African hip hop.
RFI: Do you feel that the songs on your new album have been influenced by the wealth of new talent bubbling up on the Senegalese music scene right now?
Doug E Tee: No, I'd say it's the opposite actually. I feel we're the ones who've inspired a new wave of activity on the Senegalese music scene. When I say "us", I'm not just talking about Positive Black Soul but a lot of other rap groups who've emerged on the Senegalese music scene and the young kids and the private press too - they've all helped bring about a lot of changes and an alternative approach. The President of the Republic actually acknowledged this in a recent press interview, saying "If Senegal has changed so much in recent years, it's thanks to the private press and, more especially, rap groups and the young people of this country."
The way we see it, we're opinion leaders - our songs raise issues and talk about the kind of things we experience in our natural environment in our everyday lives.
RFI: Your new album opens with a song called Redemption , which sounds like a bit of a reference to the story of PBS's career …
Didier Awadi: Well, it's funny you should mention that. A lot of people actually think Redemption should have been the title track on the new album. It definitely gives the image of a group who've managed to survive against the odds. Surviving as a group and getting our music heard has been a real challenge for us - but, then again, that sense of challenge has always spurred us on.
RFI: Xoyma , the song chosen as the first single release from the album, uses a modern syncopated rhythm with electro beats. It's as if you've fused a primitive sound with something very futuristic …
Listen a sound extract from Xoyma
DET : Xoyma is basically a bit of a fun love song. The title means "Show me!" On the song it's like we're sending a message out to women, saying "Come on and show me your love and affection - and, if you've got anything else to show, come on and get out what you're hiding!" It's a bit of a jokey come-on really, where we play around with a few double entendres ... You can take what we say lots of different ways. Some listeners might get something very romantic out of the lyrics - but others will find the song a bit erotic!
Basically, the song revolves around this huge play on words. You know, we've had people coming up to us in Dakar who just don't get it at all and they're like, "What's this Xoyma about? What are you trying to say in the song - "Show me what?" … In any case most cool people on the street really like the song, they really get off on the rhythm. I mean, on the one hand, yes, Xoyma does sound very modern and electronic, but the beat is based on the same principle as m'balax. That jerky, staccato beat is actually inspired by ancestral tradition!
RFI: Another outstanding song on the new album is Run Cool , the title track you recorded with Ky Mani Marley …
DET : Run Cool is really the philosophy behind this whole project. We've adopted the motto "Don't stop running, but run cool!" - which basically corresponds to the idea of 'everything in it's own time'. I mean, after everything we've experienced as Positive Black Soul, we can't allow ourselves to stop running, but that doesn't mean we've got to get stressed about things. We can run at our own rhythm - and we'll reap our rewards when they come. There's no hurry!
Listen a sound extract from Run Cool
RFI: It's amazing, Ky Mani Marley's got exactly the same voice as his father. In fact, the resemblance is almost disturbing at times …
DA : The Marley family have a hell of a lot of talent, but for us, Ky Mani's the one who's really got the same spirit as Bob … I'll never forget the first time we met up with him. It was in this hotel and it was amazing, there was just this instant warm, friendly vibe between us. We work with the same tour promoter as Ky Mani and he's also worked with our producer Van Gibbs in the past. Anyway, we sat down with Ky Mani and got him to listen to Run Cool and he got the whole thing straight away! He agreed to record with us on the spot and we flew off to lay the track down in New York.
RFI : Comment allez vous? is by far the funniest, most laidback track on the new album. It's very modern-sounding but you've also got the kora and all these other Senegalese influences going on …
DET : It's funny, Comment allez vous ? all began with us messing around in the studio one day. We were just having a bit of fun, jamming around with this rhythm we liked and Didier started making up this chorus. When (our producer) Van Gibbs came in and listened to what we were doing, he immediately said, "That's it! That's a song! We've got to record it!"
And we were really into the idea, because we wanted there to be at least one track on the album which was completely off the wall. That way the album wouldn't sound too serious. There'd be a track where people could relax and dance to a fun, laidback beat. And Comment allez vous ? works really well live too, audiences go mad for it …
American music fans love the song because they think it's really exotic having this little French phrase you can pick up on and sing along with really easily. We recorded the song in the same spirit as the Lady Marmalade hit, you know, the one where the chorus went "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" That kind of thing.
Listen a sound extract from Comment allez-vous?
RFI: It's interesting that on almost all of your songs you bring in three languages - French, Wolof and English …
DET: That way our songs are open to the world. Everyone can get something out of them. We're not just playing for Senegalese music fans or exclusively for French or Anglophone audiences. We want to get our message across to absolutely everyone. So we try and do everything we can to reach as many people as possible …
RFI: The melody line on Iyata sounds a bit familiar …
DET: Well, that's not surprising - we 'borrowed' it from the Afrika Bambaata hit "Zulu Nation". But the thing is Iyata actually uses a traditional Yoruba chorus. So it's like return to sender. We're going back to the song's African roots …
Iyata was also a bit of a pretext. We wanted a song where we could bring up the idea of self-knowledge, the idea that being in touch with your past, your history, helps you live better in the present. You know, people need a solid base in life to keep them going off the rails. The reason a lot of kids get in trouble these days is because they lack certain basic guidelines. Parents, teachers and griots haven't been doing their jobs properly. Basically, what we were trying to do on Iyata was lay down certain guidelines for kids, give them access to things they could think about to improve their lives and help them get in touch with who they really are.
RFI: Do you feel your African hip hop is trying to set some kind of example to the international community?
DA : African hip hop is still in its early days compared to hip hop in the States or Europe. But that's because we lack certain basic infrastructures. We were determined to sing in our own language and jazz things up by throwing in a bit of French or English here and there. But it was really important for us to communicate in our mother tongue.
It's the same thing with our instruments - we use instruments from our culture. I don't see the point of mixing in the sound of a European bagpipe when we can use a Peul flute instead. The most important message we're trying to put across in our music is to tell fellow African rappers to be natural, you know, just be themselves!
Sound advice from Didier & Doug E Tee who took La Cigale by storm the other night, dressed in their brightly-coloured traditional costumes. Accompanied on stage by a DJ, a backing singer and a choreographer who joined Didier and Doug E Tee in a show-stopping dance routine, PBS drove the audience wild with their rhythms, fusing the sound of traditional African instruments such as the tama, the sabar and the kora/balafon, with relentlessly modern beats.
Interview: Gérard Bar-David
Translation: Julie Street
New album: "Run Cool" Palm Tree Enterprises (dist. East/West)
