Ancestry in Progress

Ancestry in Progress is an album by Zap Mama, released in 2004. Marie Daulne, Zap Mama's leader, deemed the music "Afropean".

The album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's World Albums chart.

Production
The album was mostly recorded in Philadelphia, where Daulne worked with musicians associated with the Roots. It contains contributions from Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Questlove, Bahamadia, and Common. Daulne sings in French and English, while also employing chants from Pygmy music.

Critical reception
Exclaim! thought that "'Bandy Bandy', with Erykah Badu, stands out because of its polished immediacy." The Baltimore Sun determined that "Daulne blends the ancient (her trademark pygmy onomatopoeic vocal techniques and chants) with the present (smoothed- out, atmospheric grooves)."

The New York Times concluded: "Half of the album comes across simply as neo-soul with a Belgian accent. But the other half—especially 'Show Me the Way'—meshes Zap Mama's dizzying, ping-ponging vocal polyphony with pithy hip-hop beats and a pan-African assortment of guitar curlicues." The Sydney Morning Herald opined: "Singing in both French and English, she's a breathy African Bjork one minute, an operatic Afro-funk diva the next." Rolling Stone considered that "despite rap cameos and world-beat sound effects, the grooves are as bland as bad neosoul, and the songs sound like bundles of self-consciously eclectic singing."

AllMusic wrote that "this is far more an urban recording, where urban pop and nu-soul are informed by worldbeat esthetics rather than the other way around."

Track listing

 * 1) Intro
 * 2) Sweet Melody
 * 3) Vivre
 * 4) Bandy Bandy
 * 5) Yelling Away
 * 6) Show Me the Way
 * 7) Follow Me
 * 8) Miss Q'N
 * 9) Yaku
 * 10) Ca Varie Varie
 * 11) Alright
 * 12) Cache Cache
 * 13) LeÇon N°5
 * 14) Wadidyusay?
 * 15) Zap Bébés