![](https://lde1.cdn.occur.la/site/blog/images/2016/03/1422_laetitia-zonzambe.jpg)
Occur Goes Global - The Music of Central African Republic
French, Latin and Pygmy influences make up the structure of Central African Republic's music scene. Dulcet sounds are hammered out on the balafon, a xylophone relative made from animal horns and skin. Dances borrow from the cha-cha and merengue, kicking up kinetic energy and the spirits of those oppressed by a government that’s been in transition for years. Here are five artists providing the soundtrack to life in Central African Republic.
Handimusic
Created at a refugee camp outside the country’s only international airport, Handimusic gives voice to the displaced and the disabled. Led by activist and polio survivor Simplice Lenguy, the collective sings of peace and togetherness. “I am very optimistic,” he told the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2015. “It has happened in other countries, but people have overcome the crisis. They worked hard and the reality changed.”
Idylle Mamba
Theatrical and regal, Idylle Mamba is a Christian artist who enraptures with every note. Her melisma ripples like pebbles on a pristine lake, offering sanctuary to all who pass by. She radiates with positive feminine power, emphasizing in her works the need to celebrate African women. The above track, “Maman,” addresses her own mother, as well as the maternal vibration of the planet.
N’Dinga Gaba
The world-renown DJ and trombonist is “Changing bad listening habits... one person at a time,” according to his Twitter profile. A perennial favorite of tastemakers like NPR, Gaba blends traditional C.A.R. beats with deep house, creating a cerebral chill. He currently resides in Baltimore, bridging the ocean between his home country and his community in transition.
Boddhi Satva
When acoustic guitars play the role of keyboards and drums, and warbling vocals are as sumptuous as a bass line, you’re in Boddhi Satva territory. The mix master and multi-instrumentalist got a career boost from caffeine— Coca-Cola featured him as one of its Coke Studio personalities in 2013. And for good reason: He brings the dance floor to the savanna and binds the past to the present.
Laetitia Zonzambé
A storyteller extraordinaire, Laetitia Zonzambé weaves songs like patchwork. Her 2014 EP, Sanza, describes clothing made of many fabrics— like the spectrum of her art. Whether she’s possessed by a weary senior’s ghost (like on the above song) or crooning as herself, this Montreal immigrant immediately grabs curious listeners. (Lead image courtesy Marilyn Gilbert Artists Management.)
More from Melissa Bobbitt (See All)
Reporting from the Wilderness of Record Store Day 2014
Melissa Bobbitt 0You'd think from the way the gaggle of vinyl enthusiasts at Record Surplus in Santa Monica,Calif., were talking, they were war veterans. One bedraggled employee told a cluster of patrons on the hunt for prime goods...
Apr 21, 2014Occur Goes Global - The Music of Guatemala
Melissa Bobbitt 0A civil war may have shaped the course of Guatemala’s history, but so has the ingrained music of the Spanish and Mayan peoples. Amid native woodwinds and percussion thrives a resistance that comes from song....
Apr 16, 2017Comments
Recent posts
Occur Goes Global - The Music of Jamaica
Oct 16, 2017Occur Goes Global - The Music of the Ivory Coast
Oct 2, 2017Occur Goes Global - The Music of Italy
Sep 13, 2017Sponsors
Subscribe!
Receive updates on what's going on in live entertainment, events, and music.