Remember when the term world music would send shivers down your 12 year old spine? No? Well maybe it was just my parents who played weird tribal music from Africa right after that damn CD those monks in the 90s came out with (I was begging for them to put on an Enya CD at this point). Even now I’ll visit my parents and the soundtrack to the latest and greatest Bollywood film will be blaring around the house.
All this has given me a very skewed and uninterested view towards world music but the last few years have changed all that. With Diplo and Switch tapping into reggae and dancehall (Major Lazer) and MIA bringing out the sounds of the favelas, “world music” as a genre isn’t what it used to be. The Very Best is the newest group to come out of this burgeoning genre, combining the members of Radioclit with singer Esau Mwamwaya.
Esau sings in his native Chichewa (he was born in East Africa), but don’t let that discourage you from listening to one of the most exciting groups out there. Like I said, this is not your moms world music. The songs on their CD are so varied and undeniably listenable, you would have to be brain dead to not enjoy at least one of the songs.
“Yalira” is a goosebump-inducing song of pretty epic proportions. It would not be out of place in The Lion King and I mean that in the best way possible way. “Julia” is a more electronic flavored tune and is bound to make even the most close minded people do some headbobbing and perhaps even a little chair-dancing. Don’t be surprised if Kanye West, Kid Cudi, or Wale grab the beat to rap over. The last song I will post is a little number featuring MIA. You should know what to expect from that but it’s still legit. Check out these songs then make sure to pick up their CD Warm Heart of Africa which also features a song with Vampire Weekend‘s Ezra Koenig. As if you need any more motivation it probably has one of the best CD covers ever.
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DOWNLOAD: The Very Best – Julia
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DOWNLOAD: The Very Best – Yalira
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DOWNLOAD: The Very Best – Rain Dance ft. MIA
