- More than 30 artists 18 African countries will show on the different stages of the Benicàssim festival the connections of reggae with the rhythms of the continent.
- Youssou N’DOUR, Alpha Blody', among the names that will vibrate on the Main Stage of the 'Celebrating Africa' edition to make the public feel the African global heartbeat.
The reggae it is musical, historically and spiritually connected to Africa. In the heart of reggae you can hear the beat of the drum, means of communication for ancient African peoples and banned in the Caribbean by colonial slaveholders when they identified it with sedition. Reggae music created in the 70 by postcolonial Jamaicans of African descent always maintained their connection to the motherland. It is from this decade that the new wave of reggae stars with dreadlocks openly includes in their songs the theme of Africa and the need to return to the ancestral home.. Bob Marley's worldwide success spread Rastafari teachings, inspiring African countries that had sown the seeds of reggae and encouraging them to create their own.
Thus, It is entirely appropriate that the Rototom Sunsplash from Benicassim commemorate your 24th edition under the motto Celebrating Africa, that will capture dthe 12 al 19 of August on its stages with a poster that is shaped by both artists from the continent and others strongly linked to it.
African reggae music will be well represented at the Main Stage by the ivorian Alpha Blondy, 'The Bob Marley of Africa', with 19 albums in which, along with social criticism (Apartheid is Nazism) It also pays tribute to its culture (Cocody Rock, recorded with The Wailers).
The ability of West African music to spread around the world will be compressed by the Main Stage appearances of two of the region's leading artists. On the one hand, the senegalese Youssou N’DOUR. Pioneer of mbalax music and former Minister of Tourism of his country, heard reggae for the first time in his uncle's record store in downtown Dakar, feeling moved by the power of Bob Marley's songs. On the other, the rebellious spirit of Africa will have its voice in Felabration, the special performance of Seun Kuti, son of the Nigerian inventor of Afrobeat and self-proclaimed 'black president', F Fella. At the Seun strip, Egypt 80, It features the musicians who shared countless moments with Fela.
Another descendant of a legend who will also be on the Main Stage will be the South African Nkulee Dube, daughter of reggae veteran Lucky Dube. Together with her, the one born in Kenya but settled in Germany will carry the torch of African reggae Treesha.
further, Rototom Sunsplash will celebrate Africa with reggae artists from all corners of the diaspora with a personal connection to the continent. Whether through their spiritual commitment to Rastafari's Pan-African messages or their physical presence in African countries. The poster 2017 will pay tribute to this connection throughout the eight days of the festival.
The Main Stage will witness the reunion of the initial lineup that accompanied Bob Marley, The Wailers, four decades after Bob sang Africa Unite and received the UN Peace Medal. Bob Marley's legacy and African roots will also be present during his son's special appearance Bob Marley's 77th birthday will be streamed on Tuff Gong's YouTube channel from noon to, who will share the stage with the German Gentleman, together with which he will stage a repertoire created by both for this occasion.
Steel Pulse, progressive reggae band from Birmingham, has always been characterized by having included in its themes the notion of African consciousness. African Holocaust (2004) commemorates the resistance of black people in the face of historical oppression.
The unstoppable rise of the young Jamaican hope Chronixx relies on his Rastafarian beliefs, while the unmistakable voice and music of Toots Hibbert de Toots & The Maytalsis based on African folklore and Jamaican church music. The intense stepping rhythms of the Twinkle Brothers have been used to send messages Celebrating Africa. Your success Free Africa (1978) warned the world: “If Africa is not liberated, Neither will the black man.”.
Both reggae and its energetic descendant, el dancehall, They remain hugely popular in Africa, as evidenced by the career of the veteran DJ Beenie Man. 'The Doctor' has frequently visited various African countries and verbally compiled his heritage in songs such as Africans Y Africa Unite, in which he sings alongside Luciano, another common on the African continent, which will also be on the Main Stage.
Two figures who have been celebrating Africa for decades are U-Roy y Big Youth, who will be accompanied by the Guyana-born, UK-based dub innovator Mad Professor, with extraordinary ties to the continent. next to them, the former Jamaican child star, singer and academic Nadine Sutherland, who has been heard in the most powerful dub sound systems thanks to pan-African production Inna Mi Blood (2015).
African music and culture will also be noticed beyond the Main Stage. in the neighbor Lion Stage, the tuareg guitarist Bombino will unleash their fierce desert rock, remembering how the sounds of West Africa have inspired American blues. From the throat of the Jamaican Lutan Fyah letters of Rasta ideology will flow and He took Kante, Guinean living in Barcelona, will share its distinctive fusion of European and African styles. They will also pass through this scenario Lyricson (Guinea) Y Mehdi Nassouli, from Morocco. Meanwhile, the public to the Dub Academy will receive a lesson on the return of dub to its origins, directed by the South African sound system Kebra Ethiopia. Meanwhile, Dynamq Sounds International, from South Sudan, will liven up the area Dancehall beside Shashamane Intl, from Kenya.
Every year, the African Village provides an immersive African experience that will not vary in 2017. The Village guarantees a feast for the senses, with a musical program, dance, culture and cuisine that will cover the extension of the motherland thanks to names like Elemotto de Namibia, Kwame Afrovibes Y Africa from Ghana, Hermanos Thioune de Senegal, Malice of Madagascar, Fekat Circus of Ethiopia, Boniface Ofogo from Cameroon and Ed Gorsy from Equatorial Guinea.
The variety of high-quality artists in all stages and areas, added to the particular focus that is given to Africa in 2017, make Rototom a lively and stimulating destination in which to discover the roots of reggae and feel the global heartbeat of Africa in its many forms.
