Queens & Kings

There are a few things you can’t ignore if you follow music seriously. One is jazz and the other is the influence of Africa on the entire cosmos of popular culture. Fela Kuti once said: “99.9% of the information you get about Africa is wrong” and I can not deny the fact that I have no concrete ideas about the people who live on this continent.

I see pictures on TV, which I can not classify. These images are almost always embossed by war, illness, hunger and death. These pictures are mostly designed in a way that our “western” perception rises above these people.

And then I hear the sound of Africa and it is so rich and cheerful that it truly collides with these images and makes them seem absurd. These pictures were also not enough for the members of the Danish band Junglelyd and so they decided to go on tour with the Ghanaian musician Atongo Zumba in Ghana 2016. The chemistry that developed after a month on the road between the group was so strong that it created a new project and collaboration. This collaboration was called African Connection and to expand it, they decided to extend the stay and make music together. Royal Drum Master Okyerema Asante provided the newly formed band with spaces and recording rooms to rehearse, learn from one another and record together.

This was followed by joint concerts and recordings in Denmark, which resulted with most parts of the album “Queens and Kings”.

African Connection, whose members come from 3 different continents, are united in their idea of music and combine their experiences to create something new. This form of equal treatment and collaboration has not only produced a fantastic album, it also shows that art is able to overcome boundaries and make them disappear. Also of importance, is that it helps to show the political developments of recent years. / Gregor Samsa

African Connection was founded in 2016 by musicians from Ghana, America and Denmark and the result of their collaboration is unmistakably unique. Their sound is inspired by Fela Kuti, pioneer of the Afrobeat and not just a legend in Nigeria. Their drummer, Frank “CC YoYo” Ankrah, played with Fela in the 80s and was a student of Tony Allen.

The mother tongue lyrics of African Connection come from all three Ghanaian members of the band and cover a wide range of social topics. In addition to the songs, the title of the album “Queens and Kings” thematizes the role of women and their oppression.

Musically, African Connection combine Highlife, Funk, Afrobeat, Rock’n‘Roll and West African traditions, providing significant and modern interpretation and expansion of the genre.