(Born Bad Records)
The prodigious performers from Benin showcase their astounding pace of musical development, having only picked up their instruments for the first time in 2016
Benin’s Star Feminine Band have had a remarkable journey to releasing their music. The seven-piece all-female group, aged between 12 and 19, only began learning their instruments in 2016, after participating in a free music workshop in their remote home town of Natitingou. Following two years of after-school rehearsals, the group came to the attention of French engineer Jérémie Verdier, who recorded demos of the band’s celebratory mix of Ghanaian highlife melody, earthy Congolese rumba and folk sato rhythms.
Those tapes made their way to Parisian label Born Bad Records and in 2020 the band debuted with a self-titled album. Confronting their status as one of the only groups in Benin to feature women playing instruments, they produced songs such as Peba and Femme Africaine, which advocated for their place in society.
Continue reading...by Ammar Kalia via Electronic music | The Guardian
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