Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang
Build Music
Release Date: Mar 24, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Luaka Bop
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Album Review: Build Music by Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang
Fairly Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 6.9/10
Janka Nabay's path as a pop musician--first in his home country of Sierra Leone in the '90s and then in the U.S. in the 21st century--has been circuitous to say the least. First discovered in Sierra Leone, he was a big star at home before a long civil war and its brutal aftermath forced him to come to the U.S. in 2003 as an émigré.
Based on rating 3/5
J anka Nabay's songs are an edgy blend of ancient African styles and modern technology that reflect his own uneven career. In the 90s, he became a star in Sierra Leone by recording cassettes of updated bubu music, reworking traditional songs that were used in Islamic ceremonies by using keyboards, drum machines and multitracking. He fled to the US at the end of the civil war and worked in a fried chicken restaurant before reviving his career with help from David Byrne's Luaka Bop label.
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