Daara J
Daara J We need a new term for a new kind of hip hop that is not about bitches, bragging and bling, and Boomerang will do nicely. The word conveys perfectly the sense of a music that thrives on two-way influences flying back and forth. What hits you immediately when you listen to Daara J’s new album is its great musical quality “In our music, the melody is always the starting point”. At their beginning because of their lack of means, it meant rapping on some instrumental French or American raps compiled on a tape, or with only the backup of a beatbox or of a few percussion instruments. In that case, one of them would sing the melodic parts. Talk about harsh apprenticeship? But in adversity and unrewarding environment, N’Dango D, Aladji Man and Faada Freddy learned to make the most of anything that came to hand. A precious teaching they still currently put into practice. Thus Si La Vie N’est Pas Belle” starts with a harmony borrowed from the zulu music, “Boomrang” with a Mandingo traditional melody and for the occasion, Rokia Traore, one of the greatest divas of Malian music. They all speak various languages, absorbing all styles of music on their journeys. A mixture of French or American rap, reggae, roots, soul funk and Cuban music.