Fling Chune FRIDAAAAAY: Gata Brasileira

I first heard this song in my Zumba class and had an instant world music-flavored amorous experience! It's called Gata Brasileira which loosely translates to "Brazilian chick" in Portuguese. Though I've scoured iTunes and other web music stores for about a year, I have yet to get my hands on this joint! *le sigh*

So far, I've seen two names credited as the artist--Dr. Cevada and Axé Bahia--but I'm inclined to go with the former for 2 reasons:

1. There's one vocalist, and one rapper, but no group or even backup vocals that would indicate a multi-member ensemble
2. It turns out that Axé is also a genre of Afro-Brazilian music, most likely the one that applies to this song

Apparently this Dr. Cevada person was a one-hit-wonder because I can't find any Wikipedia page legit sources on him--no album title, no other tracks, no photo... NADA! If you know who this artist is or where I can purchase this joint, PLEASE hook a sista up! 

Well, Dr. Cevada if you're real and you happen to read this, just know that I think your song is thebomb.com!!

Have a blessed weekend, errybody!

Fling Chune Friday: Un Gaou a Oran

I've been flingin' this chune right here since circa ~2006. It was around that time that I had developed an insatiable appetite for world music and internet radio was my smorgasbord. Shout out to the station One World on Live365.com for introducing me to a plethora of international genres--including rai.

Rai is a folk music credited to Algeria, but enjoyed throughout the Maghreb (collective name for North African countries comprised of mostly Arab ethnic groups). Like almost any other genre of music under the sun, rai has evolved to become more upbeat and relative to youth. Think Jamaican reggae--> dancehall/ragga; Trinidadian calypso--> soca; 90s R&B/rap fusion-->hip hop.

Sorry for the musicology lesson--I told you guys I'm a culture freak--back to today's chune!  Un Gaou a Oran formally belongs under the category of rai but is actually better classified within an off-shoot genre, like those listed above. Not sure what this hybridized genre is officially called but the track appears on a compilation album called Rai-n-b Fever.  From the time I heard this song on One World, I was hypnotized... and then I saw the video. *scream* LUV'D IT!!  I especially appreciated that it reflected the background cultures of the artists--Mohamed Lamine, 113 and Magic System--who collaborated to make the song Black (African) and Middle Eastern/Arab, both united by French colonialism.

OK, OK, I'm off my soapbox. For your listening pleasure, this right here is Un Gaou a Oran!! Have a blessed weekend everybody!

"Fling Chune" Fridaaaaaaaaay! - Stand By Me

Happy Friday, er'rybody! No doubt, this is the most loved day of the week--unless you have to work weekends (sorry about that)--and I think it deserves its own celebration.  What's a celebration without music?! *WACK* That's what!  So in honor of this most auspicious day, I'm gonna start up "Fling Chune Fridays". Each week, I'll feature a song that I'm feelin' on that particular day. And consider yourself warned: my taste in music is eclectic with an international flair! You'll be getting everything from gospel reggae, to bhangra, to flamenco guitar... and then some.

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Side bar: For those tryna figure out what the heck I'm talkin' bout when I say "fling chune", it's Caribbean-speak for  hit that track or play my song. To take this Caribbean Linguistics 101 lesson just a tad further: fling - throw; chune - tune, song, track. Now take what you just learned and go impress your Jamaican friends. (You know I'm being facetious cuz I still get pissed when people hear me talk and peg me for Jamaican; of course, no offense to deh Yaardies out there).

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Now that everybody's up to speed, let's kick off the first Fling Chune Friday with Stand by Me--by Caribbean gospel music artist, Emrand Henry! Hail up all St. Lucia massive cuz your native son got me here doing the holy bounce!!