Dance for Darfur

Modiba, in association with Ben (Ben & Jerry’s) Cohen’s political organization, TrueMajority, has released ASAP: Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project, a CD bringing together some of Afrobeat’s top artists. S&H.ca recently talked with Modiba’s Eric Herman, one of the CD’s producers.

How did the ASAP CD come about?
Jesse (F. Brenner, CD co-producer) and I interned last summer at Afropop Worldwide, a non-profit media group dedicated to African and world music. By the end of the summer, we had good relationships with many (NYC) Afrobeat groups. Meanwhile, Darfur was persisting in the news. Jesse and I were brainstorming ideas about what to do about the issue. The idea for an album popped into my head shortly thereafter.

Why did you use Afrobeat artists for the CD?
Showcasing Afrobeat was a major incentive for the project. We are all crazy Afro-heads. It’s some of the hottest music on Earth, and sharing it with people not ordinarily exposed is very satisfying.

How did you approach the artists?
Many were recruited by asking those already involved for their recommendations and the contact info for those cats. Tony Allen, Dele Sosimi and Keziah Jones were all brought in through such correspondence.

How did TrueMajority get involved?
Once we had recruited about eight Afrobeat artists or so, we pitched the idea personally to TrueMajority [note: Ben Cohen also contributed to the liner notes]. Being members, we knew they already had a Darfur campaign in the works. A good friend of ours, Aaron Thaler, is very close to Ben. That gave us the inside track, and they agreed to the idea immediately. We then chose what we thought were the best songs and tunes that could flow cohesively.

How did the CD’s first track, Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble’s ‘Star Wars (Modiba Darfur Remix)’, come about?
Dave Ahl, our sound engineer, and I re-mixed the track. We wanted to tell the story of Darfur as concisely as possible, so we gathered a bunch of media clips, journalists, experts and so forth, and organized their bites into a comprehensive “story”. It’s all there: what's happening, who's to blame, what does it have to do with you, the listener. We're really proud of it.

Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s spirit looms large over the CD. Six of the 10 artists have strong links to Fela, and the last track (Baba Olajagun’s ‘Libation for Fela’) is a tribute. How important is he to you and Afrobeat?
Fela is to Afrobeat what Bob Marley is to reggae. You cannot take him out of the equation. It is his music and his contribution to humanity, an enormous one at that. It belongs to him and he has shared it with all of us, so we must pay heed to him.

Given that Fela is so important to Afrobeat, how come Femi Kuti (Fela’s son, now a top Afrobeat artist) wasn’t involved? Did you approach him?
We tried to get in touch with Femi to participate, but we couldn't get through to him. It would have been wonderful to have him on board, but we consider ourselves very blessed to have gotten the artists we did, including Tony Allen (with Fela playing on that track) and Antibalas, two of the biggest names in Afrobeat. Maybe next time we'll get Femi's attention.

In your own words, what is Modiba about?
Modiba has many goals, which are all interconnected. To put it simply, we are dedicated to using Africa's resources, namely its brilliant music and cultures, for the benefit of the people from which these treasures derive.

How do you hope to accomplish this?
We plan on opening a production studio in Bamako, Mali, to produce local and international talent, with each project directed at a specific humanitarian or environmental goal - combating malaria for example. We also want to be able to eventually pass the studio off to Malians, so that they can have their own, self-sustaining production industry. Then they do not have to be bound by third party (European) sponsors, who usually exploit the artists shamelessly. In the meantime, we'll be making great music and films and helping those around us in the process - we're pretty excited about it.

For more information, check out http://www.modiba.net, http://www.darfurgenocide.organd http://www.savedarfur.org

Courtesy image