Ancient Africa has given us more than we know. sciences, principles, processes and most of all knowledge. Egyptians defined the Ka as the life force of an individual, which although it was an ethereal projection, required food and drink for sustenance. I’m not going to extend myself further and try to decipher the full meaning of Shafiq Husayn’s new offering – i’ll leave that to you. What I can tell you is ‘Shafiq En’ A Free Ka‘ is a heavy journey into the psychadelic, tripped out reaches of a spiritually focussed master of the boom-bap. Composed entirely using outboard equipment and packed with collaborations from the likes Rozzi Daime, Bilal, Fatima, Count Bass D and Om’Mas Keith, Shafiq En’ A Free Ka is an eagerly anticipated project from 1/3 of the Sa Ra Creative Partners.

As a follow on from the SaRa interview I posted a couple of days back, we thought we’d drop this preview mix of some LP tracks lovingly cut and pasted by Brownswood’s DJ Lefo to free up your life forces….

Shafiq En’ A Free Ka Preview Mix

I found out about this blog a while back but for some reason, memory of it floated outside the reach of my consciousness until it was re-presented to me by the nice folks over at XLR8R.

The story goes like this: Blog owner Brian Shimkovitz went ao Ghana circa 2005 to study Hip Hop. He worked out that a lot of African music never makes it out of Africa and the Awsome Tapes From Africa blog is born, dedicated to spreading Africa’s finest analog archives worldwide

Now, if i’m honest, i’m listening to the XLR8R mix Brian put together right now and it’s a little hit & miss. Having said this, i’m only a small aspect of god so my taste is not omnipotent and to be honest, I love the concept so much i’m gonna support it anyway….ok the selection seems to get better as he warms up so I take it back. There’s definitely heat hidden in the ATFA archives too so make sure you go check them out. Meantime, check out the XLR8R podcast and make your own mind up…

Ok, you know by now that i’m I huge fan of Dam. His squelchy analog bass movements and sun drenched synth leads never fail to love me the right way. So I was more than pleased to get hold of the fresh podcast he just dropped for LuckyMe. If you haven’t already, you need to pass through their site and doff your New Era to the sheer weight of talent and innovation their rolling with. On your way there, make sure you stop in with Stones Throw and sample his latest Teachizown Vol 1: LATrik offering. Heat!