Dakar Rap Sensation PBS Storm Kampala
Apr 03, 2003
Tonight promises to be explosive as Positive Black Soul (PBS), a Senegalese rap outfit, rocks crowds of enthusiastic Ugandan hip hop fans in a jam session at DV8 Bar & Bistro on Wilson Road.
By Sebidde Kiryowa
Tonight promises to be explosive as Positive Black Soul (PBS), a Senegalese rap outfit, rocks crowds of enthusiastic Ugandan hip hop fans in a jam session at DV8 Bar & Bistro on Wilson Road. The extravaganza kicks off at 7:00pm, but will only be the precursor to their grand concert at University Hall in Makerere University tomorrow.
PBS rap mostly in Wolof, a local Senegalese language, with a few of their songs in French and English. They use traditional instruments. Their rap is very positive and clear, a trifle moralising. It uses a satirical approach recognisable to rap fans.
Jessica Kyeyune, spokes-person for Alliance Francaise de Kampala (the show’s organisers) told the media at the National Theatre yesterday that the hip-hop spectacle will start at 7:00pm and go all the way to 10:00pm. Blood Brothers and VR promotions will provide stage and sound respectively. Alliance Francaise is working in conjunction with the French Embassy in Uganda and the Ministry of Culture and Mobilisation of Makerere University.
Both performances, which will be free of charge, will feature a myriad of celebrated local urban talent like dance-hall star Bebe Cool, Kora-nominated hip hop heads Klear Kut, low-key rappers Bataka Underground, Female underground rapper MC Lyte, Ezra Xtra Mugisha and Rwenzori Summit among others.
PBS are lauded for having performed with such internationally acclaimed artists as Sade, Papa Wemba, Tony Allen, KRS-One, K-Mel, Mane Key, Nile Rodgers, Macy Gray, D’Angelo, Manu Dibango and Koffi Olomide.
Amadou Barry, a.k.a. Doug E. Tee and Didier J. Awadi (known as DJ Awadi) both born in the Senegalese capital of Dakar comprise Positive Black Soul. Amadou is the son of an Air Afrique employee and a businesswoman. Didier comes from a family of teachers. His father is from Benin.
But their coming together was something of a miracle-like a Chameleone-Bebe Cool feud gone right! According to their web-site, they began their careers as early as their teenage years. They worked as DJs separately in the clubs of Dakar in the mid-1980s. Fairly well known on Dakar’s music scene, the two boys competed with each other as real rivals. In 1985, Didier formed Didier Awadi’s Syndicate. Then Amadou became very popular with his King MCs outfit.
But when, one day, Didier invited the King MCs to his birthday party, they started rapping together, and realised they had the same thinking and decided to get together and make some progress.
Amadou identifies what unites them: “I wouldn’t call it black nationalism, but rather Africanism. We are working as part of the colossal contribution Africa has made to world development. The Egyptians had the first real civilisation. It was black, and it has left its influence everywhere. History needs rewriting.â€
They named their group Positive Black Soul and chose to talk about society’s problems constructively with a clear mind, even moralising. Their writing, their style and their voices were complementary. It was instant success built on their already established local fame.
The instrumentation required traditional instruments, from which came a totally new sound. They respectfully competed with Senegalese star par excellence Youssou N’Dour and his M’balax. Between 1989 and 1992, PBS’ fame hardly crossed the border. Their importance on the local scene was nevertheless great amidst a lot of competition. In 1992, the French Cultural Centre of Dakar produced a CD, which represented current Senegalese music, Dakar 92, m’balax and jazz et rap. PBS featured.
In October that year, they opened for French-based rapper M.C. Solaar on his first concert in Dakar. He took them to Europe. In 1993, they performed at the first Dakar Africa Music Festival, and released their first cassette recording, Boul Falé, in 1994: “We couldn’t afford mixers and specialist arrangers, so we did it all ourselves — and carefully! We went to studios to see how the guys did it. And we based everything on ear, on listening, on feeling, on our own energy.â€
Baaba Maal invited PBS to record on his album Firin’ In Fouta, which led them to sign a deal with Mango Records, a subdivision of the prestigious Island Records.
This catapulted them to the forefront of the world music scene. Next came a European tour: two concerts in England, four in Switzerland, one at the Printemps de Bourges in France, and one at the Passage du Nord-Ouest in Paris. In June that year, they were at the Fite de la Musique in Dakar, followed in December by Africa Fite in Paris and the Transmusicales at Rennes, both in France. PBS had attained worldwide fame.
In 1995, they released their second album, Salaam (Peace). The album included a collaboration with MC Solaar. In London, PBS sang with the US rappers Naughty by Nature. In May 1996, they were at Divan du Monde in Paris.
Then they took off for Quebec’s Festival d’Eté in July, where they came away with the Prix Miroir de la Chanson Francophone for the Best New Artist. In October 1996, Daw Thiow (Avoid Quarrels), their fourth cassette, was released. PBS’ latest album Run Cool was released on March 13, 2001.
Now national celebrities, Doug E. Tee and Didier Awadi were welcomed with fanfare by President Abdou Diouf in February ‘97. In September, PBS performed at the Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, at the Cape and on Robben Island. Ends
Tonight promises to be explosive as Positive Black Soul (PBS), a Senegalese rap outfit, rocks crowds of enthusiastic Ugandan hip hop fans in a jam session at DV8 Bar & Bistro on Wilson Road. The extravaganza kicks off at 7:00pm, but will only be the precursor to their grand concert at University Hall in Makerere University tomorrow.
PBS rap mostly in Wolof, a local Senegalese language, with a few of their songs in French and English. They use traditional instruments. Their rap is very positive and clear, a trifle moralising. It uses a satirical approach recognisable to rap fans.
Jessica Kyeyune, spokes-person for Alliance Francaise de Kampala (the show’s organisers) told the media at the National Theatre yesterday that the hip-hop spectacle will start at 7:00pm and go all the way to 10:00pm. Blood Brothers and VR promotions will provide stage and sound respectively. Alliance Francaise is working in conjunction with the French Embassy in Uganda and the Ministry of Culture and Mobilisation of Makerere University.
Both performances, which will be free of charge, will feature a myriad of celebrated local urban talent like dance-hall star Bebe Cool, Kora-nominated hip hop heads Klear Kut, low-key rappers Bataka Underground, Female underground rapper MC Lyte, Ezra Xtra Mugisha and Rwenzori Summit among others.
PBS are lauded for having performed with such internationally acclaimed artists as Sade, Papa Wemba, Tony Allen, KRS-One, K-Mel, Mane Key, Nile Rodgers, Macy Gray, D’Angelo, Manu Dibango and Koffi Olomide.
Amadou Barry, a.k.a. Doug E. Tee and Didier J. Awadi (known as DJ Awadi) both born in the Senegalese capital of Dakar comprise Positive Black Soul. Amadou is the son of an Air Afrique employee and a businesswoman. Didier comes from a family of teachers. His father is from Benin.
But their coming together was something of a miracle-like a Chameleone-Bebe Cool feud gone right! According to their web-site, they began their careers as early as their teenage years. They worked as DJs separately in the clubs of Dakar in the mid-1980s. Fairly well known on Dakar’s music scene, the two boys competed with each other as real rivals. In 1985, Didier formed Didier Awadi’s Syndicate. Then Amadou became very popular with his King MCs outfit.
But when, one day, Didier invited the King MCs to his birthday party, they started rapping together, and realised they had the same thinking and decided to get together and make some progress.
Amadou identifies what unites them: “I wouldn’t call it black nationalism, but rather Africanism. We are working as part of the colossal contribution Africa has made to world development. The Egyptians had the first real civilisation. It was black, and it has left its influence everywhere. History needs rewriting.â€
They named their group Positive Black Soul and chose to talk about society’s problems constructively with a clear mind, even moralising. Their writing, their style and their voices were complementary. It was instant success built on their already established local fame.
The instrumentation required traditional instruments, from which came a totally new sound. They respectfully competed with Senegalese star par excellence Youssou N’Dour and his M’balax. Between 1989 and 1992, PBS’ fame hardly crossed the border. Their importance on the local scene was nevertheless great amidst a lot of competition. In 1992, the French Cultural Centre of Dakar produced a CD, which represented current Senegalese music, Dakar 92, m’balax and jazz et rap. PBS featured.
In October that year, they opened for French-based rapper M.C. Solaar on his first concert in Dakar. He took them to Europe. In 1993, they performed at the first Dakar Africa Music Festival, and released their first cassette recording, Boul Falé, in 1994: “We couldn’t afford mixers and specialist arrangers, so we did it all ourselves — and carefully! We went to studios to see how the guys did it. And we based everything on ear, on listening, on feeling, on our own energy.â€
Baaba Maal invited PBS to record on his album Firin’ In Fouta, which led them to sign a deal with Mango Records, a subdivision of the prestigious Island Records.
This catapulted them to the forefront of the world music scene. Next came a European tour: two concerts in England, four in Switzerland, one at the Printemps de Bourges in France, and one at the Passage du Nord-Ouest in Paris. In June that year, they were at the Fite de la Musique in Dakar, followed in December by Africa Fite in Paris and the Transmusicales at Rennes, both in France. PBS had attained worldwide fame.
In 1995, they released their second album, Salaam (Peace). The album included a collaboration with MC Solaar. In London, PBS sang with the US rappers Naughty by Nature. In May 1996, they were at Divan du Monde in Paris.
Then they took off for Quebec’s Festival d’Eté in July, where they came away with the Prix Miroir de la Chanson Francophone for the Best New Artist. In October 1996, Daw Thiow (Avoid Quarrels), their fourth cassette, was released. PBS’ latest album Run Cool was released on March 13, 2001.
Now national celebrities, Doug E. Tee and Didier Awadi were welcomed with fanfare by President Abdou Diouf in February ‘97. In September, PBS performed at the Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, at the Cape and on Robben Island. Ends