In this promo/intro-to-an-artist clip, South African musician Spoek Mathambo (Nthato Mokgata) pretty much sums up what it is we find interesting about him and a handful of other artists like Nneka, Edoheart and Muthoni the Drummer Queen, and why we think such artists are likely to endure long after more immediately accessible artists have faded from our collective memory.
Spoek Mathambo & Cerebral Vortex, 'Let Them Talk' Video Shoot
They are sonic explorers, thus innovators not imitators, African artists whose music is rooted in Africa (in Spoek's case South Africa), but not in an obvious or belaboured manner (something that sometimes leads to the odd accusation that they're not really African artists, whatever that means). And while rooted, their music absorbs and employs influences from all over the place, whatever feels right, doesn't recognise borders between styles - Afro-electro, rock, pop, house, grime, rap, whatever; everything's up for grabs, to be fused into something new. And of course we love it when artists throw different languages into the mix. Sure, the risks are greater - you're unpredictable, you're not trading in convention, so it's gonna be harder to attract a mass audience, but the resulting music is usually richer, we find, and also often a better reflection of what many of us are like today, and what more of us are going to be like in the future, cultural mongrels with a global outlook.
Which other artists would you say are strongly rooted sonic explorers?
Father Creeper, Spoek Mathambo's Sub Pop debut album, is out on the 13th of March, but you can pre-order now. Don't know about you but we're really looking forward to being surprised. between now and then, visit Spoek to download a free mp3 of Let Them Talk, the first single from the album.
