Tal National are from Niamey, the capital city of Niger. Their music is joyously hypnotic, a highly unique contribution to West African guitar music. With its lightening fast rhythms and rotating cast of vocalists can be heard the history of Niger as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. Collected within the former French colony can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in Tal National’s members. In the music we hear the rolling 12/8 rhythms in the Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the pensive aridity of the Tuareg’s assouf or “blues,” and the exquisite “griot guitar” of Mali’s Songhai, all delivered with virtuoso precision and unrelenting energy.

 
Tal National official site
Tal National on Facebook

Sierra Leonean singer Janka Nabay exclaims: “All I am about is making history,” a modest goal for someone who revived a fading musical treasure, made it big back home, escaped war and chaos, and still managed to write and play songs while working at American fast-food fryers. Now, at last, Nabay hits his stride with Brooklyn indie experimenters-turned-acolytes The Bubu Gang (with members of Skeletons, Chairlift, Starring, Saadi, and Highlife) on his first album-length release in the West, En Yay Sah (“I’m Scared” Luaka Bop; CD/LP/digital release: August 7, 2012).
 
Nabay’s “bubu” music may sound utterly hip and futuristic to American ears, but its history spans centuries. The original “bubu” is cloaked in mythology: according to Nabay, a young “bubu boy” took it from witches 500 years ago and brought it to the public at large, sacrificing his own life in the process. When Islam reached Sierra Leone, bubu became a part of indigenous processionals during Ramadan; this is the music Nabay learned and perfected as a child. As Janka says: “Bubu is an old, old music, but people don’t know about it. You can add new things into the beat if you know it really well, and make your own sound out of it.” (read full bio here)
 
Janka Nabay official site
Janka Nabay on Facebook
Janka Nabay on Twitter

DJ Dakar is from the Pikine neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal, and now lives in Harlem, New York City. He got his start in the music business as an audio technician for radio and television in Dakar. He also DJ’d Dakar’s late-night, hip-hop radio show “Hotmix” on WALF-FM.
 
Now in New York, DJ Dakar’s music is distinguished by his mixing of the latest hits in dance, hip-hop, Sengalese mbalax, reggae, Ivorian couper decaler, Congolese soukous, salsa, reggaeton and more.
 
DJ Dakar is available for dance parties, weddings, house parties and other special events. His background as an audio technician means that he knows how to make sure the music sounds great in every corner of any event space.
 
DJ Dakar on Soundcloud
DJ Dakar on Instagram
DJ Dakar on Facebook