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0:00to my studio, we record, and that's how King Aishiba and Panji, as a producer and a label owner, started to work together. And when I was in Ghana setting up actually a studio for some other musicians, in Medina, outside of Akra, I thought I have to find this guy, King Aishiba, and his music, because he should come and play in Europe, everybody will like it. And then I connected to Panji, it was easy to reach him. It was very hard to reach King Aishiba himself, and at the time, when I was there, he was in Mali. So, finally, I met Panji, went to his house, where his studio was, and we spoke, and I said, well, can we arrange something? And he said, okay, I'll speak with King Aishiba, and then we met, and then we decided to do a tour, 2012. That was the beginning, yeah. You know, the first time my son saw him, Alia, when he was about two, he was watching him sound check, and then suddenly King Aishiba did this thing where he goes,

1:05with this other voice, and Alia was like, whoa, you could see that he was a bit scared as well. What is that? What is that guy? Because it really sounds like a different voice coming out of him. Yeah, well Aishiba, I've heard him answer this question quite a few times, so I think I can more or less answer it for him. What he says is, it's the voice of the animals that he got from his grandfather. His grandfather used to sleep in the forest when he was hunting, when he was out hunting. And then in his sleep, he would connect to the spirits of the animals, and he would take those voices, and then, and this was the voice that his grandfather used, and King Aishiba inherited that voice from his grandfather. So it's Yabah. Fuba, actually, it comes with a lot of power, but it actually

2:08means relax. Okay, I'm going to play some solo

6:08and then plus her release, still, and then one of the first times I was in Ghana back then, King Aishiba was living in a house in the north of Akra and not Kanishi, and he started the bar there, called the Afrika Bar, and Prince Budiv was always the collo-go player and an amazing singer, and so I met him very often, and then in the night, when when darkness comes, we would all sit around, and he was the one who most often would be the first one to pick up the collo-go and start just playing, and playing his songs, and really this sort of trance kind of thing that is more than King Aishiba, maybe more a pop song of writer than, and what I heard in Prince Budiv's music was this sort of trance kind of thing, and I thought it was amazing, and he had a cassette,

7:14and so at one point I collected this cassette, and he sent me a few other tracks actually, later when I was back in the Netherlands, and we made this in the war album, and put it out. I think that was already in 2013, yeah.

10:27So that track actually was in 2013, and so I had a few other tracks in the middle, and it was in 2011, and it was in 2014, and I think it was in 2017, and I thought it was in 2014, That track actually I got from YouTube and it's a really great YouTube site called MyBolga online and I don't know who the guy is, it says exciting collagon music from taboo logra Congo, I don't know if that's the name of the guy or the name of the place, logra Congo. And before that was Prince Buju and the song was called Afashi and it was originally released on his, was that CD or an LP cassette, cassette also, could we are in the war, which later

11:32on released on Collago Power, a bold gatanga compilation, which is a great release as you have, tons of, tons of collagon music with really different styles. And the first track was a blind musician, I think he got blind from getting a bad case of the measles when he was quite small and his name is Aluta and he was, the song was called Who Knows Tomorrow and it's on a release on Bangkok called Upper East Untouch. And well I notice, I mean I chose those three tracks just because the styles are so different, like can you talk a bit about those styles and also the, the, the last one which was really fast but also the one of Prince Buju. Yeah, well definitely this is what you hear is just, just to Collago, which is like the Calabas, goat skin on top of it, a stick sticking in it and then two nylon strings. Two strings. Two strings. That's it. And then what they use, like a big rubber thing, like what

12:34we, yeah, okay, sorry about that. But it's interesting. Anyway, everybody pay attention. It's not a plectrum, like a pig, guitar pig. It's, it's, it's much bigger and they cut it out of shampoo bottles that, this hard plastic, and they cut them out and they can play really fast with those kind of big rubber things. Anyway, so this is a traditional style that exists for, I don't know, for thousands of years, I think. I mean, this is how King Aisha by his grandfather was playing Collago. I mean, but of course, everybody has his own style. His, even the tunings can be different. They don't have, use all the same tunings. They tune also with their voice because voice is, the message is what starts first and then they will tune their Collago connecting to their voice. And then it also depends on how big is the Calabas of the Collago that you are using that also defines the sound as well and also in a way how, how fast can the

13:40sound be? How fast can you play? Is it also regional? Because you also have in neighboring countries this instrument now. That's right. And the tunings different there or it's like, they might use different tunings anyway, but also like in Bokinifaso, which is like the Upper East region of Ghana, where all these Collago musicians are from, is connected, is on the border of Bokinifaso. So in Bokinifaso in the south, you'll find a lot of Collago players as well. They'll call it different and they'll, mostly they play with their fingers instead of with a big rubber thing. So the next track I'm going to play, to me this style of it, it's a really more modern track. It came out 2020 by a lost man and it's called Minus Me and for me their Collago playing it was really similar to the last track that we just played.

15:10It's not Bok Maca for, but I'm going to play it, it's not Bok Maca for, it's not the only way I ask how they get me through the mix, it's not the same way I ask how they tell me what they want, it's not a single way I ask how they take me where they were. Oh Kind of here trouble Manus me here Oh Damn Manus me Tell me die Manus me People to kill some manus me Is the good some manus me I'm that big of good some manus me Call it a manus me Type all manus me Malaria manus me Coco manus me Very very bad Manus me Coco manus me Very very bad Manus me Cause the cat's in my pizza life I got dilemma沉unu Oh it's the catματαえ Ma paaza la I got toothpaste With the cat use Ma paaza la I got dilemma沉uan Now it's the cat elves I got dilemma沉 на I got dilemma沉 Princess

16:39Oh yeah! Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I don't know what to do

17:40Here, come You'll progress last week You'll success last week I make a dollar, last week You give up, last week Oh, you won't lose, last week La girena, last week Can't last week, last week Don't like, last week Music or it's, last week You won't be, last week You won't be, last week We go on to eat, last week Godore, last week Live with all, last week We just got to mop the floor Come on, I'm out till the end Now we just got to mop the floor Come on, I'm out till the end We just got to mop the floor Come on, I'm out till the end Now we just got to mop the floor Come on, I'm out till the end What can you choices and what can you chooseハマン? I don't wanna know why you guys always love me If you got a head... What would you choose? What? Should I open the tea to your head? So that was a lost man again. They say we are a lost man because we were lost in the

18:50street, the forgotten people. And it's this guy called Stivo Atambira, which seems to be a producer and singer. Where is he from originally, Stivo? Also from the Upper East. He's a great colloquial player and singer and performer. He used to be with King Aishoba. As a young boy touring, being on the road with King Aishoba a lot. And then he started working on his own. He has a lot of releases under the name Stivo. And then working together with the rapper became a lost man produced by actually by one love, the Kubbalar, from Fucking Boys, who also worked a lot with King Aishoba. So I mean, it's one big community somehow, of course. You said this stuff has more hip life in it and sort of high life. You hear, I mean, in the way, I think what I hear a lot is as soon as you take

19:55the colloquial music and you start mixing it with beats and bass lines. And you hear the inspiration, you hear the lines coming from the hip life and the high life, which are actually more from the south of Ghana, from the Gah and the Far region, where Akra is, the Ashanti region, where Kumasi is. And of course, these guys, these musicians, they all also live in Akra and Kumasi. So they mix a lot. And with the producers, they are working with, they might very much well be also from these other regions, putting other styles into the music. Okay. You released another CD, I guess also LP of this guy, Ayuna Sula, which I'm going to play after an Atamina track. I played Atamina last week. It's great. He's really kind of funny guy as well. Dr. Professor Atamina. Yes, I saw him on YouTube in his wild. I mean, in much wilder than in the

21:00recordings, but so I'm going to play two tracks from this

26:54I don't want to judge them ones to judge every time they want to judge the rest of my $20,000 coming from the ghetto, but the music in my fire, don't judge and I ain't rastoman, don't judge and I ain't rastoman, conscious man, working hard to make my demands tell them, yeah, please, will you? Ayuna Sula, please will you, we know about, we know come from someone to judge us, you know, we come to work hard, we're consciously, but music in that street, we're consciously, but people didn't even start to grow, they were to grow. So this track is Ayuna Sula, which you put out on your label, and for me, some of the stuff, these last two tracks, I've heard kind of Ethiopian music, the production of it, maybe they, like you said, they use the same gear, but the production of it and the rhythms they're using

27:57is really similar. Who is the guy producing this in light? Well, a lot of music that I put out on my label is produced by Francis Ayamga, he has a studio called Top Link Studio, it's in Bongo, a small town outside of Bulgatanga in the Upper East region, and we've been, like he's also a drummer in the band of King Aishoga, and so he's also been in Europe here, like we've been always helping each other to set up the studio, and I've been there many times, also sleeping in the studio, and just being there and hearing all the musicians helping out with producing, yeah, the stuff for the compilations are for the albums. Yeah, and he's really developing his his own sound as well, which is which I really love, and I think it's fantastic, and and so more and more stuff is coming from his studio that I mean I wish I had the money and the time to release everything basically, but yeah, but we'll get there. And a compilation came out a while

29:06ago called Frafra, and Frafra is the group of people that are playing this music here. It's actually the name of the, well what do you say, tribe, but then I should pronounce it as Farafare, and well, and it's the name of the language, like, but actually that word comes from the time, the first time the English people went to the north of Ghana and met the people who were living there in this area in the Upper East region, and then this word actually came from what the English interpreted as, oh, this sounds like they call themselves Frafra, or Frafra, or something like that, so that's how the word stuck. So it's a bit like Farangie. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and so that's, yeah, well, anyway, they still use that, and King Aishobar will say we are Frafra people,

30:07and because I wanted to make a compilation with also other music from the region that wasn't definitely only Colago music, also some more vocal music, our traditional women group singers, and everything, so that became the, this is Frafra power compilation. Okay, and that's, and that all that stuff is also produced by, or most of it produced by Francis, or yeah, all of it came from the studio of Francis at Yunga, the top link.

34:53No, no, no, Nika fo' Rebecca what? No, no, Nika fo' Rebecca what? No, no, Nika fo' Rebecca what? No, no, no, no, go, go, go, go, go, go Rebecca, what? Money better for the might you as I browse too much, for the just one Why did Nika summer see Sam money better for the might, for the maybe too much money, For the make-a too much time Yeah, people, I can't want to niggas, I can want to niggas life All my money for the niggas world, all my niggas summer for the only

37:21It's been a month, yeah, I've been a ballerina and I've been a tarpone I've been a ballerina and I've been a ballerina and I've been a ballerina One river for the main plus, where I get the most I've been All the niggas for the dance world, all my money's been spent All the niggas, all my money for the dance life One river for the main plus, the main penions for everybody ever I've seen one river for the main plus, hey Yes, it's fine, no big niggas, I'm a bad boy, that's what I get to win I ain't got one to save it For the more than I want to walk, yes, it's like I'm a boss, it's only a lasso I pick a guy in my life, he let the genus do it I want more of a boy, a minga, two younger mingas, all the same I'm out, see, I'm the best nigger, I'm out, see I'm the best nigger, I'm out, see Best rapper, like best rapper, hey Best rapper, like best rapper, rock, see Best rapper, like best rapper So that track was a ragazir called Matalegri Matalegri What does it mean? I've got money I've got money, yeah It's really gonna sort of call it go rap It's brilliant, it's really one of my favorite tracks I heard And the one before that was

38:21Madame Madame Fausti, Amoa, Mabila So this ragazir guy, what's he doing? He's gonna make more stuff because it's Well, what happens actually? And what I see a lot in the people, the young people hanging around the studio, the toppling studio They all have like one song in their head Many of them, they have like one song, one set of lyrics that they wanna do And they just have to find a time slot basically when Francis has time to make them a beat And then as soon as Francis says, okay, I've got time for you now They'll jump in the vocal box and they'll do their thing And then I mean, because it costs money to produce your track And basically you wanna have one track to have on your phone and to share with everybody That's how it starts And then, okay, then you'll see what comes after that With new songs, but it's really a lot of young kids hanging around the studio

39:21Just finding out if there is any short moment of time for them to do their song And this guy, Ragaziri, is like, as he tried to make other stuff I think he's been, yeah, but Francis, he still has to send me the new stuff But yeah, he's really worth putting it I want to hear it to him more, definitely And this, I mean, so this came out on the, this is Frafra Power LP, also CD, I still have some of these in my Machem Records done and else So please, help me with this, people, people Okay, I'm gonna play another Prince Boogie track Because we do have time Great And it's a really recent one, I think it came out about a week ago or something And it's very, you don't hear much collago on it and it's very different There's a lot of sort of reggae production in it He's a rustler, he is a rustler, yeah, yeah, full of

42:09So this is a Prince Boogie, again, for the past away It's also produced by Francis, so he's really doing tons of stuff, also really different stuff This last track that we played for the end of the show is by King Aisha Bargen And it features Lee Perry, how did King Aisha Bargen meet Lee Perry? Did he know who he was? They met on the airport Actually, the whole band, King Aisha Bargen, they were all hanging around on the airport waiting for the next plane

43:10King Aisha Bar and Matt Professor were passing by and Gert Sound Engineer for King Aisha Bar said, hey King, that's Lee Perry He's the one who worked with Bob Marley Bob Marley is like the biggest hero for King Aisha Bar, next to a fellow Kuti And he heard about, we've been playing Lee Perry music in the car and everything, so he knew about the legend of Lee Perry But he didn't know what he looked like, but he thought he looks like a spirit And then they met and actually Matt Professor knew the music of King Aisha Bar He had the wicked leaders and modern guardians LP And he said, hey Lee, that's King Aisha Bar from Ghana, great music So took a picture together, they talk a little, and then everybody had to go their own way But then later on when we started producing, when I started producing the Thousand Can Die album There came the idea to invite Lee Perry for featuring on one of the tracks So what did you do? You just, he recorded it or he came like he sent you?

44:10First I sent him, I was emailing with Lee Perry's wife and about it And then she said, yeah, Lee is up to it, great, but send the beat, so I sent everything Then it took a long time and I thought, okay, what's going to happen? And then at one point they were on tour, they were in Jamaica, I got an email Arnold Lee is in Jamaica, he's in a studio now Scratch is ready to do something, send the beat now Like an email, okay And then a few hours later I got six vocal tracks back from Lee Scratch Perry in my inbox And they said, this is from Lee Perry for King Asia Bar And I could just use it for the song and cut it up on, and use it as I wanted And it was amazing I also played this track because recently, probably people know that Lee Perry died And for me, he was really one of the best producers in the universe Oh, right

46:20Oh Oh

47:20Oh Oh

48:20Oh Oh

52:50. . . . . Alienation, the map of despair. In the modern world, control is exerted over us automatically by the spaces we live in and move in. We go through certain rituals in our lives, work, leisure, consumption, submission, because our world is designed for these alone.

53:50We all know malls are for shopping, offices are for working, ironically named living rooms are for watching television, and schools are for obeying teachers. All the spaces we travel in have preset meanings, and all it takes to keep us going through the same motions is to keep us moving along the same path. It's hard to find anything to do in Walmart, but look at and purchase merchandise, and a custom to this as we are, it's hard to conceive that there could be anything else we could do in there anyways. Not to mention that doing anything but shopping there is pretty much illegal when you think about it. There are fewer and fewer free, undeveloped spaces left in the world where we can let our bodies and minds run free. Almost every place you go belongs to some person or group, which has already designated a meaning and prescribed use for it, private state, shopping district, super highway, classroom, national park, and our very predictable routes through the world rarely take us near the free areas that do remain.

54:55These spaces where thought and pleasure can be free in every sense are being replaced with carefully controlled environments like Disneyland, places in which our desires are prefabricated and sold back to us at our financial and emotional expense. Giving our own meaning to the world and creating our own ways to play and act in it are fundamental parts of human life. Today, when we are never in spaces that encourage this, it should be no surprise that so many of us feel desperate and unfulfilled. But because the world has so little free space left in it, and the circuitry of our everyday lives never takes us there, we're forced to go to places like Disneyland for any semblance of play and excitement at all. The real adventure our hearts crave has been largely replaced by fake adventure and the thrill of creation by the drill of spectatorship. Our time is as thoroughly occupied and regulated as our space. Indeed, the subdivision of our space is a manifestation of what has already happened to our time.

55:59The entire world moves and lives according to a standardized time system, designed to synchronize our movements from one side of the planet to the other. Inside this large system, we all have our lives regimented by our work schedules and or school hours, as well as the hours that public transportation runs and businesses operate, etc. The scheduling of our lives, which begins in childhood, exerts a subtle but deep control over us all. We come to forget that the time of our lives is ultimately hours to spend how we choose and instead think in terms of work days, lunch hours, and weekends. A truly spontaneous life is unthinkable to most of us. And so-called free time is usually just time that has been scheduled for something other than work. How often do you get to see the sunrise? How many sunny afternoon walks do you get to take? If you had the unexpected opportunity to take an exciting trip this week, could you do it? These restricting environments and schedules drastically limit the vast potential of our lives.

57:04They also keep us isolated from each other. At our jobs, we spend a great deal of time doing one particular kind of labor with one particular group of people in one set place, or at least in one set environment, for construction workers and temp employees. Such limited repetitive experience gives us a very limited perspective on the world and keeps us from coming to know people from other backgrounds. Our homes isolate us further. Today, we keep ourselves locked apart in little boxes, partly out of fear of those capitalism has treated even worse than ourselves. And partly, we believe the paranoia propaganda of the companies that sell security systems. Today's suburbs are cemeteries of community. The people packed separately into boxes, just like our supermarket products, sealed fur, freshness. With thick walls between us and our neighbors, and our friends and families scattered across cities and nations, it's hard to have any kind of community at all,

58:04let alone share community space in which people can benefit from each other's creativity. And both our homes and our jobs keep us tied down to one place, stationary, unable to travel far through the world except on hasty vacations. Even our travel is restricted and restricting. Our modern methods of transportation, cars, buses, subways, trains, airplanes, all keep us locked onto fixed tracks, watching the outside world go by through a screen, as if it were a particularly boring television show. Each of us lives in a personal world that consists mostly of well-known destinations, the workplace, the grocery store, a friends apartment, the dance club, with a few links in between them, sitting in the car, standing in the subway, walking up the staircase, and little chance to encounter anything unexpected or discover any new places. A man could travel the freeways of ten nations without seeing anything but asphalt and gas stations so long as he stayed in his car. Locked onto our tracks, we can't imagine a truly free travel, voyages of discovery that would bring us into direct contact with brand new people

59:07and things at every turn. Instead, we sit in traffic jams, surrounded by hundreds of people in the same predicament as ourselves, but separated from them by the steel cages of our cars, so they appear to us as objects in our way rather than fellow human beings. We think we are reaching more of the world with our modern transportation, but in fact, we see less of it if anything. As our transportation capabilities increase, our cities sprawl farther and farther across the landscape. Whenever travel distances increase, more cars are needed. More cars demand more space, and thus distances increase again and again. At this rate, highways and gas stations will one day replace everything that was worth traveling to in the first place. Everything that hasn't already been turned into a theme park or a tourist attraction that is. Some of us look at the internet as the final frontier, as a free, undeveloped space still ripe for exploring.