ASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project (Various Artists)

It’s rare to find a consciousness-raising compilation that manages to shake hearts and hips at the same time. ASAP: the Afrobeat Sudan Aid Project not only spotlights the genocide in Darfur, it also acts as a primer for this infectious, politically charged music.

Afrobeat started when James Brown toured Africa in the mid 1960s. Thousands of Africans formed bands in the funkmaster’s wake, imitating both Brown’s grooves (which, ironically, were very African) and political manifestos. Afrobeat’s biggest proponent was Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938-1997), whose influence looms large over ASAP. Six of the ten acts on this CD have direct links to Kuti.

Some highlights: Tony Allen (Kuti’s drummer and musical director from 1968-1979) offers the title track from his 1975 solo record, which features Kuti on vocals. Brooklyn-based Antibalas (Spanish for “bullet-proof”) Afrobeat Orchestra does a live version of Bob Marley’s ‘Uprising’. Baltimore beat poet Ikwunga targets First World collusion in African genocide in ‘Di Bombs’. Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble’s ‘Star Wars (Modiba Darfur Remix)’ features snippets of people discussing the Darfur genocide while former Soul II Soul dancer Wunmi offers psychotic, rubbery raps on ‘What A See’.

The lyrics on all these songs are brutally direct, and these beats could get a corpse’s toes tapping. This is a worthy CD for a worthy cause. Free your ass and your mind will follow!