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Hip Hop in Cabo Verde
Tha Real vibe
Members: Thë Greg, Punsho, Dhem 'a' Rush a.k.a. Shine Lightnin’
Album: Unidade (1999)
The three members are from different islands in CV and currently living in Holland. In their early days, Greg rapped and the other two were dancers. In 1991 they participated in a Dutch Free Style Dance contest, which they won under the name 'The Vibe'. Later Adriano and Humberto started rapping too. Now they have a cd out, their 2nd album apparently. The name has been changed to 'Tha Real Vibe' to avoid the resemblance to another group called 'The Vibe'.
To get the new cd 'Unidade', contact their record company Mesapro, PO Box 761, 3100 AT Schiedam, Holland, tel. +31-10 426 22 12 or visit the Mesapro website.
Black Side
Members: Nigga Dau, Nigga Gee, T. Black
Cd: Black Ja Tchga (98)
Another 'Cabolese' crew from Rotterdam? Not. The Black Side album offers a new style that many crews have talked about of trying one day, but somehow they all failed to do it. So Black Side have taken their funk one step further. People familiar with African or Caribbean music must have heard zouk sometimes. This Antillean style which echoes influences from traditional Guadeloupe music, French chanson, funk and even eighties pop music was made popular by the likes of Kassav' and Monique Seka. Its tempo which goes around 90 BPM lends itself well to be rapped over. This has rarely been done by African crews. Black Side do it, and quite good. In one song they may jump from a hip hop beat to zouk to a ragga riddim, without selling out to any of the styles. The album has the same effect that also arises with the best of zouk music: after playing it you want to keep the atmosphere so you play it again. Despite the comparison with other styles it is clear that Black Side make music from a hip hop view. The cd can be ordered with Mesapro (address: see above).
E Life
E-Life who used to rap using his name Elvis with the Dope Syndicate in the early eighties, is still in the game. His carreer is going strong now with a tour around Holland where he teams up with the Postmen who like him are from 'the docks' a.k.a. Rotterdam, Holland. Since his first single came out in 1997 he'd had a lot of succes, one single even got to nr 1 in the Dutch top 40 chart, we are looking forward to hearing the album. for some more info you can visit the Dutch West-site
Postmen
Some members of this Dutch reggae-hip hop group are from the islands. When they broke through with their first album in late 1998, they went to perform in Cabo Verde. The audience response was good, and the group (lead rapper grew up in Holland) felt like home.
Cabo Funk Alliance
Members: Jay B, Eddy G, P-M.O.D.E., Jahmar
Cd: Hoje e quel dia (1996)
A substantial part of the population of Cabo Verde, a small island state off the coast of Guinee Bissau (West Africa), lives in Holland. Living among this community are the members of the Cabo Funk Alliance. They have been in Holland for most of their lives, still they came up with both the name of their group and the lyrics referring to their native country. This may seem like a refusal to adapt to their current environment but as Jay B explains: this is the best way to deal with their bi-cultural heritage. They still know how to speak their mother tongue but it sounds different from Cabo Verdians who have not spent 24 years in Holland. Still one of the group members, Eddy G, recently had hit success on the islands with a solo-single. In their lyrics the group talk about the misery that part of the Cabo Verde population has to endure. Another song is called 'Sem conta' ('Fuck that'), which criticizes the old generation for hypocrisy: they accuse the young of having too much love for their blunts while they themselves can't live without the bottle.
'Unidade' by Tha real Vibe