We Famous

Having had his career derailed by civil war and Ebola, the blind Sierra Leonean musician Sorie Kondi was reduced to plying his trade as a Freetown street musician until by chance the American producer Chief Boima discovered a track by him on YouTube and created a bootleg remix that went viral and caused a sensation. It led to a fully-fledged collaboration on the Kondi Band’s 2017 Afro-electro album Salone.

The follow-up reunites the two men and adds London-based keyboardist/producer Will LV to the mix, casting the sonic palette wider on a thrilling album that takes Kondi’s rich baritone vocals and the spiralling melodies of his thumb piano and re-upholsters them as techno bangers. The sultry-voiced Sierra Leonean Mariama Jalloh guests on the Afro-pop styled ‘She Doesn’t Love You’ and LA beat maker Sweatson Klank adds heavy funk to ‘It’s God’s World (So Don’t Do Bad)’. ‘The Sweetness is Gone’ is a dubbed-up prime slice of cutting-edge African techno and ‘How Will It Be for Me in This World?’ is another sparkling mix of electronic textures and African tradition.