Review: Maga Bo – Confusion of Tongues EP

Being American, I always find it interesting to see how my ears react to different cultures’ take on hip-hop, a genre of music that obviously has origins outside the States, but is wholly an American music phenomenon. That might be a simplistic look at a complicated subject, but I think it has some accuracy. Which brings me to Maga Bo, a producer originally from Seattle but now transplanted to Rio de Janeiro, who takes this American genre and combines it with influences from his new native country, alongside grime, ragga, and other decidedly non-American genres to create an intense and vibrant take on hip-hop.

“Nakhil,” featuring K-Libre would feel at home with some Southern crunk, with it’s skittering hi-hats and kick patterns but the squelchy synth sounds and foreboding bass backbone stick it in a whole new world altogether. The remix by Nettle takes this atmosphere and amplifies it into a string-led soundscape that acts as a perfect compliment to the original. The flip-side, “3ekel,” featuring Moroccan rappers Bigg, is my pick off this EP, though. The drum programming is brutally complicated and pounding, the bass makes your gut shake, and, capping it all off, is some traditional Moroccan rhaita on the melody, something that has me rushing to dust off my Master Musicians of Jajouka album. The remix by Dr. Das is somewhat similar to the original but adds in tabla percussion, some more experimental electronics, and a slightly less pounding drum. I just wish I could understand what the MCs were rapping about! The favored guttural voice is very dominant and adds a layer of texture that certainly matches the music perfectly. This EP comes ahead of a full-length Maga Bo opus, Archipelagoes. Both are forthcoming on DJ/rupture’s Soot Records.

Editor’s note: hear “3ekel” from this EP on the June 08 Rhythm Incursions!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 10:36 am. It is filed under Reviews and tagged with Confusion of Tongues, Maga Bo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.