A mix of compositions and songs inherited from voodoo rituals played, with funky sauce, on homemade instruments, that’s Nana Benz from Togo! A quintet made up of three singers and two musicians who intend to shake up the African patriarchal society and campaign, in music, for women to have the same rights as men. Portrait.
Historically, the expression “Nana Benz” refers to Togolese businesswomen who made their fortunes in the 1960s to 1980s, in the trade of Dutch wax loincloths. These textile queens owe their affectionate nickname to the German sedans in which they traveled, symbols of their success.
Nana Benz from Togo is today a group from Lomé, the Togolese capital, born four years ago from an encounter with Peter Solo, the singer of Voodoo Game.
Composed of three singers and two musicians, the quintet hears shake up the African patriarchal society and militates, in music, so that women have the same rights as men, but also for the protection of the environment: “the earth breathes life, we must respect it, overcome ecological problems for future generations.”
If the debut album of Nana Benz from Togo is waiting to find the right label, her mix compositions and songs inherited from voodoo rituals sung in mina, in Ewe or in French and played, with funky sauce, on instruments of their manufacture, has already conquered the public.
I met him in Rennes, in the west of France, where the group gave thanks to the 44e Transmusicaleshis first concert in Europe
Huddled beside me on a sofa in the press area, Lady Apok, Parus Kekeli and Izea Ledu, all dressed in blue and a white scarf tied over their heads, revealed to me the secrets of what they call their “digital voodoo”…
SessionLab by Hortense Volle : a conversation in complete privacy and in 3D audio (spatialized sound). A podcast to listen to, preferably, with headphones.
Realization : Benjamin Sarralie
3D mixing : Fabien Mugneret
Production : RFI Lab
Titles broadcast:
► Titles Ayo ; Amina and excerpts from the concert given by the group at the Transmusicales in Rennes (December 2022)
And also :
► life is good (2016) by Vodou Game, the project of Togolese singer Peter Solo.
► Nana Benz (1998) by Togolese singer King Mensah