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DIDIER AWADI
Since its creation hip hop had known an amazing spread throughout the world. In fact, originating from the USA that new style of music has been adopted by most countries in the world, and occupies an important part of culture. However, African hip hop is proving to be unknown by the international public and that pathetic situation is, for the most part, due to the lack of information available via internet. Didier Awadi is a charismatic Senegalese rapper who, beside the fact that he came like a bolt out of the blue, reaches the height of perfection through his commitment into pan-Africanism which he always notice in most of his records. He is the perfect example of African hip hop philanthropist that the entire world needs to discover at the very moment when he has answers and eventual solutions to crucial questions that people ask themselves, concerning the dramatic situation and the hidden realities that occurs in Africa.

HIS CHILDHOOD
Didier Awadi was born and grew up in a catholic family in Dakar in 1969. His father, who came from Benin, and his mather, from Senegal, were both primary school teachers. he studied in Sacre Coeur and showed an amazing interest for history. bitten by the hip hop bug, his parents wanted him to focus on his studies instead of rapping. of course that seemed strange to him, but as he mentioned it "good grades at school was the best way for me to convince my parents that i could handle both studies and music." then he kept on practicing his flow and when the choice came to him without any doubt he decided to give up school due to the fact that he was optimistic about his rap career.

EARLY AGE IN RAP
Awadi started a career as a rapper and Dj in the mid 80s and began to make a name for himself on the burgeoning local scene with his first group named Didier Awadi’s Syndicate. At that time that band used to perform in many schools and cultural centers and had to confront a fierce competition with a rival group, the King’s MC, conducted by a certain Amadou Barry aka Doug-E-Tee. While Awadi lived in “Amitié 2”, Doug-E-Tee him, grew up and is still living in “Liberté 6” and, like most underground rappers in Paris or New York, they had given themselves the task of defending the colours of their respective neighbourhood. Music finally won out over gang rivalry, however, when in an attempt to bury the hatchet Awadi invited Doug-E-Tee to his birthday party in 1989.

AWADI AND DOUG E TEE
The coming together of two of Dakar’s most talented rappers made for a meeting of minds and the discovery of a common vibe. Awadi and Doug-E-Tee understood that they were both coming from the same direction, their perception of life and their musical philosophy being based on a profound respect the roots of their tradition and the African history. Fascinated by the American rap industry the two new brothers sought the means to create and produce a sound of an equivalent quality but breathed their own identity into their rap by mixing beats with elements of African culture such as kora, tam-tam, djembé… Right from the start Awadi and Doug-E-Tee made it clear, those two icons had an important message to get across and they used their militant rap as a mouthpiece to express the views of a generation of young Africans who are open to the rest of the world and cured of their inferiority complex towards the west. Awadi (April 7, 2006) said “I felt like showing that the African image is not negative, and all our perspectives were based on that philosophy, philosophy which encouraged me a lot all along my career. That was my source of motivation.”

POSITIVE BLACK SOUL


both rappers had the idea to build the strongest rap group and for black Africans. That was the era of Positive Black Soul from the meeting of Awadi and Doug-E-Tee and the duo went on forging an amazing reputation on the local Dakar particularly due to series of popular concerts they made inside the Senegalese capital. In 1992 PBS participated by making a track to a compilation which were sponsored by the French Cultural Centre and their fame soon spread further a field. the French rap star MC Solaar, who was on holiday in Dakar at the time, was so impressed by their work that he invited them to support him on his French tour and PBS had to play in France on several other occasions.

THE BEGINNING
the dire economic situation of the Senegalese hip hop was a heavy burden to carry, only reason why they had to wait until 1994 before they could release a debut cassette album which they financed and produced themselves. The album, entitled Boul Falé, boosted their popularity on Africa’s Francophone rap scene and opened up new collaborations with Africa Fête and the famous Senegalese singer Baaba Maal who introduced PBS to the director of the Mango Island label who appreciated their work. Once signed in, the duo proceeded to embark upon an extensive tour in Europe where their live performances went down a storm. People loved their music then they went on to release a debut CD album, entitled Saalam which included new versions of their hits they had scored in Africa. That album didn’t disappoint to the expectations. In fact Saalam showed the full extent of the crew’s rap talent, song writing with lot inspiration and militant fervour and also feature guest vocal contribution from MC Solaar.

GOLDEN AGE
Over the following years Positive Black Soul went on to make their mark on the international rap scene, touring extensively in Africa and the rest of the world. They brought the house down all from Johannesburg to Paris and New York. When they performed at Midem which is the international record industry fair in Cannes (France) in 1997, PBS met and had an interesting conversation with their American producer Van Gibbs (father of the Fugees’ producer, Salaam Remi). Van Gibbs and his father made their expertise and their studio in New York available to PBS and the result was the album named “Run Cool”. That album was recorded with the strong help from Jamaican stars Red Rat and Bob Marley’s son and Princess Erika. That rich album was released on the major label WEA. In 2003 New York-Paris-Dakar, an album which had previously only been available as a cassette on the Senegalese market was released on the independent label Night & Day. New York-Paris-Dakar was, in fact, PBS’s second album. The album featured a host of prestigious guest stars such as K-Mel (the rapper from French group Alliance Ethnik), Manu Key from Mafia K’1 Fry and the king of New York’s hip hop KRS One (who were actually their idol).

PBS BROKEN
After a series of concerts and international performances, Awadi and Doug-E-Tee decided to take a temporary break from Positive Black Soul and devote time to personal projects instead. After 15 years of success in rap, both rappers decided to break their relationship for a solo career. To the question why? Awadi (April 7, 2006) responded “working with guys was an amazing experience, however I had personal convictions I couldn’t impose to PBS, I show more interest to pan-Africanism. I want to get my inspiration from icons such as Hamadou Hampate Ba, Kwame Nkruma and Nelson Mandela and a solo career was the only solution to that dilemma.”

A NEW SOLO CAREER


Didier Awadi went on to record a debut solo album named “Parole d’Honneur”, released exclusively on the Senegalese market in 2001.that successful album is the shows how committed is Awadi to pan-Africanism. It also shows his interest on a host of topical themes such as third world debt, political tensions and the plunder of Africa’s heritage, topics that should interest the public. In early 2005, Awadi and his band represented Africa in Womex which took place in Germany. Awadi will release his new international album “Un Autre Monde est Possible” (another world is possible) under the label Sony Publishing.

external link
Positive Black Soul

official website

RFI music