Bubbling

Led by Yannick Van Ter Beek and Adrien Colle, the Paris-based collective Mawimbi have become ambassadors for all things Afro-electro, running their own label, bringing African artists to Europe to perform and remixing tracks by the likes of Oumou Sangaré and Blick Bassy. Now comes their debut album as musicians and producers in their own right, although all but one of the eight tracks showcase guest artists.

The result is an expansive tour of the continent’s music, connecting dance floors from Bamako to Cape Town via Accra and Lusaka with a diversion to the Afro-Colombian diaspora of Bogota. Opener ‘Fôli Kadi’ features the alluring voice of Malian singer Fatim Kouyaté and the kora playing of Chérif Soumano, and Fatim appears again on the closer ‘Ngana’ on which a balafon blends thrillingly with the swirling electro grooves. On ‘Kakraa’ the UK-based Ghanaian-born rapper KOG offers a visceral slice of what he calls Afro-futurism. South Africa’s Spoek Mathambo and Morena Leraba step up to the plate on the township techno of ‘Malume’. The electronic polyrhythms of Zambia’s Mufrika on ‘Kugombe’ are a tour de force and on ‘El Caribe’ Colombian rapper Ghetto Kumbé combines traditional cumbia rhythms with house beats.