Handpicked by Marco Canepari
47Soul – Shamstep [2015]
Despite Shamstep is, strictly speaking, just an EP, it is also the first bold statement of one of the boldest acts born in the last decade. In their sound, 47Soul redefined what dabke and electro-dabke are, they relocated it to London and loaded in with radical as well as necessary messages. The result is an album that brought the Middle Eastern music tradition to the Western earphones, speakers and dancefloors.
Fatoumata Diawara – Fatou [World Circuit; 2011]
From 2011, African music could count on a new diva. Until then, Fatoumata Diawara was already an affirmed actress (both for theatre and cinema) and singer (she collaborated with the likes of AfroCubism, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo and Herbie Hancock), but it was thanks to her debut album Fatou that the world discovered her exquisite songwriting. Fatou is indeed an Afro-fusion jewel embracing musical influences from all over the African continent and spreading words of hope, equality and tolerance.
Ana Tijoux – Vengo [Nacional Records; 2014]
Sadly, this album doesn’t appear on this list only for its musical qualities. After six years, Vengo is still the best musical narration of the troubled times in which Chile and South America at large are lingering. Ana Tijoux lyrics and her ability to connect traditional styles with urban sounds epitomize in little more than 50 minutes the essence of the last decade in Latin American cultural and social history.
Batida – Batida [Soundway Records; 2012]
If Lisbon has become one of the most exciting cities in the world, part of the credit also goes to Pedro Coquenao. With his project Batida, he helped to redefine the sound of the Portuguese capital, giving life to an exhilarating electro-traditional Afro-Luso brew perfectly summed up in his debut album.
DUB INC – Hors Controle [Diversité; 2010]
The sound of the Mediterranean put in a nutshell, or better, in an album. DUB INC has grown into one of the best examples of “global reggae”, mixing the quintessential Jamaican upbeats with scents coming from all over the world. Their roots made the rest. That’s how Hors Controle sounds French as much as South European, North African, Middle Eastern and Caribbean, that’s how it stands for human rights, social justice and fundamental freedoms.