(Credits: Far Out / Mississippi Records)
Africa has always been a continent bursting with vibrant colours, interesting characters, and intense quality of music that musicians in the Western world simply cannot replicate. As is to be expected of such a large and diverse continent, Africa is home to a plethora of different musical traditions, styles and genres, often relating back to traditional tribes and religions.
Perhaps the first images to enter your mind upon hearing ‘African music’ are of artists of the past – the politically charged funk of Fela Kuti, the synth pioneer William Onyeabor, or the mbalax dance music of Youssou N’Dour. However, music from Africa is witnessing another golden age currently, thanks in part to groups like Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff.
Hailing from Grand Yoff, an impoverished area of Dakar in Senegal, Assiko Golden Band is less of a conventional band and more of a drum-based collective. The sound is composed of 14 different percussion instruments backing the poetry of frontman Djiby Ly, along with various accompanying instruments changing from track to track but often including horns and wind instruments.
Despite their relatively recent exposure to music fans in the West, Assiko Golden Band has actually been performing sporadically over the past two decades, playing at parties, weddings, and even political rallies. The group does not exist to make albums, generate money or find fame. It is a mutual aid scheme designed to help members of the community in Grand Yoff and give people an outlet to express themselves in a positive, creative way.
This year saw the collective release of their first album, Magg Tekki, exposing their innovative sound to a much larger audience outside of their native Dakar. The album arose from a collaboration with Karl-Jonas Winqvist, a musician and archivist from Sweden, who met the band in Senegal back in 2018. Recording sessions and overdubs were organised via WhatsApp, and Magg Tekki was born.
The record itself is a fantastically funky journey through Ly’s poetry. Delivered in a mixture of French and Wolof, a native language of Senegal, Gambia and Mauritius, the frontman espouses a message of brotherhood, togetherness and helping each other out. Given that those ideals led to the creation of the group in the first place, you can hear the passionate enjoyment of the musicians on this album. It is almost impossible not to move to the beats of the 14 percussion instruments and occasional accordion as the album progresses.
Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff is much more than just a band; it is political activism delivered through the medium of joyous, funky tunes – akin to the work of fellow legend of African music, Fela Kuti. It took decades to put them in the studio, but the wait was certainly worth it. All we can do now is enjoy the music and hope that they continue to make great music which shares the energy of Dakar’s nightlife with the rest of the world. Assiko Golden Band have certainly succeeded in putting Senegal on the music map; as they proclaim on the track ‘Xarritt’, in Wolof, “We build our own country”.
