The great music revolutions of our times have come from Africa, and the next one is brewing there right now. Soon, our local music industries will be swamped with it. Afrobeats, Azonto, Kuduro and South African House are club music styles based on traditional rhythms, becoming a means of expressing the identity for an entire generation. This is rock'n'roll happening to Africa - and spreading to the rest of the whole world. Get the rhythm and the rhymes of modern African urban music and rediscover it in international music trends. Fonko is a documentary television series about social and political change in Africa seen through an avalanche of striking, innovative and visual music. Music however, is only one aspect of a dramatic social change. Africa is home to some of the fastest growing countries in the world and in the globalised world, African music, politics and industry will eventually affect everything. In Fonko you meet Africa's most influential musicians in their home cities.
Subscribe to wocomoCULTURE: goo.gl/VITuUt
Follow us on Facebook: / wocomo
Francophone West Africa is bound together by the french language and a common currency. But also by traditions and languages from the vast empiresthat dominated the region long before colonialism. In Burkina Faso the name and speeches of the iconic Thomas Sankara is used by musicians to protestagainst injustices and corruption. In Benin, the veterans of Orchestre Polyrytmo give a historic background to the music scene of today. Francophone West Africa has a very diverse and rich music scene due to its different ethnicities and the mixture of cultures that has taken place throughout its history. there is a hip-hop scene very present in Burkina Faso, a scene mixing afrobeat and traditional music with Voodoo Funk, but also a Tuareg music mixing rock, blues and traditional Tuareg music in Mali.
In Burkina Faso, which remains one of the poorest countries in Africa, the legacy of Thomas Sankara permeates the current music scene through hip-hop. Through hip-hop, the artists convey committed songs denouncing the political situation of the country and the blatant social inequalities. It is in this context that Waga Hip-Hop was born, one of the most popular musical genres in Burkina Faso.
Through this documentary, we meet many West African artists including: Kossi Apeson, Rokia Traoré, Tinariwen, Smarty, Orchestre Polyrytmo and many more.
Original title: Fonko - Episode 4/6: West Africa
A film by Lamin Daniel Jadama, Lars Lovén
Narrated by Neneh Cherry
2014 © Licensed by First Hand Films
#documentary #africa #music #burkinafso #hiphop #sankara