Antibalas / Who Is this America?
| Album: | Who Is this America? | Collection: | World | |
| Artist: | Antibalas | Added: | Jul 2004 | |
| Label: | Ropeadope Music Entertain | |||
A-File Activity
| Add Date: | 2004-07-26 | Pull Date: | 2004-09-26 | Charts: | Reggae/World |
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| Week Ending: | Sep 26 | Sep 19 | Sep 12 | Sep 5 | Aug 29 | Aug 22 | Aug 15 | Aug 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airplays: | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Jul 06, 2023: | I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
Who Is This America Dem Speak Of Today |
4. | Feb 11, 2020: | Global Ginga
Who Is This America Dem Speak Of Today |
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| 2. | Jan 14, 2023: | Music Casserole
Big Man |
5. | Dec 26, 2019: | I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants
Who Is This America Dem Speak Of Today |
|
| 3. | Oct 07, 2022: | Traditions - Hardly Strictly a Recap
Indictment |
6. | Aug 12, 2017: | No Cover, No Minimum: Saturday Edition
Sister |
Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2004-07-19
Reviewed 2004-07-19
ANTIBALAS – “Who Is This America?”
Ropeadope, 2004
Hard-core disciples of Fela Kuti, the Brooklyn-based Antibalas ensemble continues to bring Afrobeat to America like no other outfit. What makes this group worthwhile is not their near-perfect cloning of Fela’s sound (updated just a tiny bit), but their success at writing new songs in his style: hard-hitting, politically insightful, rock-solid grooves for a huge band (14 core members + 10 guests) that, like Fela’s records, mean something today but will still sound good years from now. That is what transforms Antibalas from lame imitators to true carriers of the torch. Play this. Play this now.
All good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 4, 7
1. 11:59 – upbeat, rolls like a train: on immigration, power, and identity
2. 8:23 – instrumental: dubby intro, then medium groove, horn solos
3. 5:38 – heavy groove, trombone solo, “indictment” of Bush et al.
4. 7:55 – uptempo funky: on corporations, labor, and consumerism
5. 1:39 – Afro-Latin drum circle & happy Yoruba chant
6. 14:03 – midtempo, spacey midsection. Lyric based on Yoruba chant
7. 19:14 – relaxed tempo, pro-feminist manifesto / apology to women
[ Fo ] – 7/19/2004
Ropeadope, 2004
Hard-core disciples of Fela Kuti, the Brooklyn-based Antibalas ensemble continues to bring Afrobeat to America like no other outfit. What makes this group worthwhile is not their near-perfect cloning of Fela’s sound (updated just a tiny bit), but their success at writing new songs in his style: hard-hitting, politically insightful, rock-solid grooves for a huge band (14 core members + 10 guests) that, like Fela’s records, mean something today but will still sound good years from now. That is what transforms Antibalas from lame imitators to true carriers of the torch. Play this. Play this now.
All good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 4, 7
1. 11:59 – upbeat, rolls like a train: on immigration, power, and identity
2. 8:23 – instrumental: dubby intro, then medium groove, horn solos
3. 5:38 – heavy groove, trombone solo, “indictment” of Bush et al.
4. 7:55 – uptempo funky: on corporations, labor, and consumerism
5. 1:39 – Afro-Latin drum circle & happy Yoruba chant
6. 14:03 – midtempo, spacey midsection. Lyric based on Yoruba chant
7. 19:14 – relaxed tempo, pro-feminist manifesto / apology to women
[ Fo ] – 7/19/2004
Track Listing
| 1. | Who Is This America Dem Speak Of Today | 4. | Big Man | |||
| 2. | Pay Back Africa | 5. | Obanla'e | |||
| 3. | Indictment | 6. | Elephant | |||
| 7. | Sister | |||||