There we are again with our series “TropicalBass talk to artists under rough climatical circumstances”. While Berlin was covered with tons of snow during our interview with Wildlife!, when we sat down with Spoek Mathambo it was hot and humid like in a Finnish sauna. Enjoy watching the ‘Best of interview’ video teaser, but if you want it all, you have to go through the text ^^

First of all thank you so much for finding some time for us, especially having in mind in how many projects you are involved. So could you shortly introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the projects you are doing. Just do some name-dropping as there are so many to mention…

This get’s really long. I’m Spoek Mathambo, vocalist, DJ, starting to produce more, from South Africa. I’ve started a band now called Mshini Wam. That’s my first album as well, the album is under Spoek Mathambo, but I did a shankle with my friends Richard and Jake in South Africa, and together we’re called Mshini Wam.
Before that I started a group called Sweat.X, together with Markus Wormstrom. I’m just gonna be listing stuff for ever, maybe you can write down all this stuff. Then I’m going this guy and that guy, and then I have this neighbour, and then we did this.
But I’ve got like 10 projects that I’m working on at the moment. [here we go: Mshini Wam, Sweat.X, Playdoe, Slush Puppy Kids, H.I.V.I.P., collaborations with names like Schlachthofbronx, Sekta, Douster, Djedtronic……]
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Ayobaness on tour! The latest of the South African house craze is touring Germany, making sure that the songs that are rocking crowds in the minibus-taxis from Durban to Pretoria, Jo’Burg to Capetown also move hips and feets in Munich, Berlin and at the festival TFF in Rudolstadt!
Tonight hardhitting basslines from the townships will shake the walls of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. For all who don’t know: the buzzword “Ayoba” means: excitement!
And yes, we are excited indeed and totally looking forward to the threefold party tonight:
The evening starts early at 6.30pm with the first part of the record release party of the compilation “Ayobaness” presented by the Ayobaness Soundsystem live with DJ, comedian and singer Pastor Mbhobho with his huge Afro and lots of bling bling Kwaito Star “MGO“, with his Pantsula dancers from Johannesburg.
Then the worldcup game Ghana – Uruguay will be shown at 8.30pm. Afterwards the party goes on: no matter which soccer team gets kicked in the ass, Ayobaness will definitely move the audience’s asses!

You can already get into the right mood while listening to the fantastic Riddim Tropical Kwaito special or this cool mix of DJ Zhao and of course by watching this video on heavy rotation:

01.07.2010 München, Crux
02.07.2010 Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt
03.07.2010 TTF Rudolstadt
04.07.2010 TTF Rudolstadt

Dear goal announcers and part-time referees, no matter if you have flags painted on your forehead or wear a funny soccer hat, we are back with the second part of our soccer song survey, bringing to you the best cheering anthems the World Cup 2010 has to offer! Continue Reading

Here we go with our ultimate list of soccer songs for the Fifa World Cup in South Africa, part 1.
I have to admit that I am most likely the one person in our team that is least interested in soccer, but well, someone had to do it. Continue Reading

June edition of our podcast show Riddims Tropicale, presented by TropicalBass.com. Host: Marflix

This month we focus on urban music from South Africa, namely Kwaito and Kwaito House, the “township music”. Kwaito is a perfect example for a genre which is influenced by House, RnB, Rap and Garage but has it’s very own characteristics which let is stand out – the music is always associated with a local cultural context that brings out some extra meanings and messages even if the rhythm patterns might sound familiar to western ears.

All artists in the show are from South Africa (to my knowledge) except Lady May (from Namibia) who released two albums on my label Faluma Africa, and “Vuvuzela Funk“, a Kwaito House / Funky – Hybrid with myself on the beats.

Live stream every first Sunday on RKRadio.

The world is looking forward to the Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa, the major highlight of the year not only for sport aficinados but also for everyone who is in love with the diverse cultures of our planet. First time ever a Soccer World Cup is hosted by an African country, sad but on the same time groundbreaking fact!

Inspired by the idea of unity and sharing ideas and influences the Faluma label crew came up with an outstanding compilation celebrating the great spectrum of musical styles from the Caribbean, the US, Japan and Africa, as well as from various parts of Europe.
Think of kicking a ball from country to country and over the ocean to other continents, building musical bridges around the world and not only share the love for all kinds of music, especially from Africa and the Caribbean, but also create something entirely new – like the soccer magic a global Allstar Team would be able to create.

‘LADUMA’ is a popular cheer in South African soccer, meaning “he scores!” (literally “it thunders”) in Zulu. Perfect title for a compilation where every tune is a goal! Reaching from Uptempo Jump-Up Soca produced in Japan to Kwaito-Funky Hybrids, from Africa-rooted Trinidadian Reggae to Mashed up Bassline, from Latin-Caribbean Merengue to Brasilian Stadium Hymns the musical bandwidth reflects what soccer and music have in common: FUN, RHYTHM AND UNIVERSALITY!

Basically a label for Caribbean music, focusing strongly on Soca, Faluma has become something like a household name over the years for well done releases, supporting even artists from small islands not very well known outside the Caribbean.
Their newly founded sublabel Faluma Africa will not only dig deep on the musical map of Africa and serve as a perfect platform for productions blurring borders of style and nationality, but also made a perfect gateway to present an international Worldcup compilation with a special dedication to Africa!

The beautiful cover graphic was done by renowned illustrator and designer Susanne Paschke from Berlin.

The compilation is available here here, including a bonus track by Namibian Superstar Lady May, and on most major platforms (iTunes, juno, finetunes, musicload, HMVdigital). Time to get in the mood for Soccer World Cup 2010!!

Laduma! by Faluma

Wow, here is the first video for Spoek Mathambo’s upcoming debut album, Mshini Wam, performed together with his live band of the same name (Richard the Third, Jakob Snake, Yolanda & Avuyile). The clip is shot on location in the Cape Town club La Referance. For me Spoek is one of the most interesting and creative artists at the moment, I love his music projects (solo work, Sweat.X, Slush Puppy Kids, Mshini Wam), his blog, his style, everything ;).
Coined as post punk township tech that’s music to shake your booty but with a undeniable dark attitude. Watching the video my first thought was: ‘We are the Bork’. This reference to cyborgs is another interesting south african approach to question fixed identities after the recent hype around Die Antwoord and their construction of white trash alter egos.

SPOEK MATHAMBO & MSHINI WAM – GWABABA (DON’T BE SCARED) from spoek mathambo on Vimeo.