Equatorial Guinea : Days 2 & 3
Reggae Fusion, EG Rap, Afro Jazz & Traditional songs of the Fang
My second and third days in Malabo have been spent mostly confined to a small but charming studio space here at the Institut Frances de Malabo (pictured below). The number of local artists who have expressed interest in this project has been extremely positive and so far, all the individuals I’ve had the pleasure of meeting have been incredibly kind, welcoming and have really been at ease sharing, performing and discussing their music with me.
Though my Spanish is muy sketchy — Equatorial Guinea remains the only Spanish speaking country on the African continent — between English and French I’m able to patch together a somewhat cohesive understanding during our exchanges, though I’m aided massively with the support of Christian, a young local Malabeno who runs the Equato-guinean socio-cultural news platform — Fomento.
Reggae Fusioń
The only reggae group here in Malabo — Reggae Fusioń unites a group of musicians passionate about roots reggae. Each member brings their own style to the ensemble, fusing elements from Equatoguinean, Gabonese, Cameroonian and Rastafarian culture. They recorded four tracks — the last of which, to my biased British ear, had a faint Stone Roses-esque tinge to it…
Rap EG
Rap EG refers to the style of rap music born here in Equatorial Guinea. Most artists write in Spanish, though Fang and Bubi dialects can be found in certain artists works.
Krans is a local artist who performed this original track, stripped back with his phone playing the instrumental through its speakers.
As part of the focus of this project, I’m less concerned with audio fidelity issues of the audio performance and more interested in documenting the habitual performance rituals of each individual. In this case, it is very common for young rappers to perform their music in this way when rehearsing and building their tracks.
Lord Bendzo is a member of the Sweet Love Music collective. Here he performs an acapella of one of his own compositions.
Traditional Fang Songs
The Fang are a Bantu ethnic group that live primarily on the Western coast of Africa — Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Cameroon. The importance of oral transmission in their culture is reflected in their music, with their unique dialects, stories, fables and musical expressions come to life.
I had the opportunity to record two artists who both performed Fang traditional songs :
Poeh Adjańeng from Douala, Cameroon
Pamike el Famoso
Afro Jazz
Afro Jazz collective Quartet Root had recently shared a stage and performed with the American Ambassador here in Malabo and clearly their talent will take them far — with aspirations to tour next year after the release of their debut album Resource.
It was a great pleasure to record them during my stay, and I look very much forward to working with the ambisonic stems to produce a fully rendered spatial mix once I’m back in the studio!
This short series will be documenting traditional and contemporary music in Malabo — the capital city of Equatorial Guinea, located on the island of Bioko Norte just off the coast of Central Western Africa.
I’m here for the next 3 weeks for a field recording project on behalf of The British Library Sound Archive and with the much valued support and co-operation of the Institute Français de Malabo.
During my stay I’ll be posting stories, sounds and captures from my time here. Any questions, reflections or suggestions, don’t hesitate to reach out via the comments section below.
Our world seems to me to be growing too frail, too fragile and too disconnected to not make an effort to listen just a little more closely…
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Mat
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