tracklist

01 archangel

02 spit

03 we

all tracks written by tshaka and me raabenstein,
produced and mixed by me raabenstein.

mastered by shapemod, berlin

artwork by simonraabenstein.com

distributed by nonine recordings

as you close your eyes and ponder the pictures that are being painted in your head with each word, you realize that as soon as one has come to light, full with color within your senses, another brush stroke is on its way from tshaka spoken word artist and griot reincarnate. tshaka menelik imhotep campbell is his full name. however, he likes to be known as simply a word artist. having collaborated on tshaka’s  albums ‘one’ and ‘bloddlines’, he and me raabenstein return with a brooding three track mixing intensly absorbing word artistry with contemporary beats, spanning from afrobeat inspired aural extravagance to au courant broken beat glitch woven with cinematic atmospheres…

enjoy the melody !!!

feedback

according to west african culture, a griot is one of the most prominent repository of the precious oral tradition and a key-figure of a community as he doesn’t only hand down the most ancient cultural treasures and teachings of ancestors (sometimes fundamenteal for the preservation of some african countries past knowledge, if you consider the fact that many west-african countries, such as senegal, mali, ghana or nigeria, has no written documents of the glorious ancient ages…), but also have an influence on community’s life as he normally combines its eloquence with singing skills for making satire or political comments, being quite close to the key-figure of the bard in european middle age historical memories. even pop culture had sometimes celebrated griots, but the inspired spoken words of the talented tshaka, whose work could be associated to the one made by arsonist trying to set even ashes on fire, could let you argue this could be a case of body possession by some ghost of a contemporary griot, turning the toaster’s tongue into a sort of brush stroking fast-rolling images in listener’s mind.

tshaka’s acting ability, whose peak has been in reached in spit in my opinion, whose passionate and heating fervor looking like the one of a captivating street preacher has been highlighted by the ascending funk-slapped rhythmical mantra embroidered by me raabenstein, and the musical mantle by the mentioned mr.raabenstein, whose deep knowledge of contemporary music is an important propellent to this 3-track delicious issue by his crossing of „jazzed-up“ broken beats, afrobeat and electronic hiccups – a mixture which is going to be appreciated in particular by all those listeners appreciating stuff by dj spooky, anti-pop consortium or dj krush – lent in the past for some previous tshaka’s albums (one and bloodlines), make this divertssment even more intense and engaging. and yes…the whirling wheel by tshaka (whose wordy reincarnation’s mounted like a jam in a ring in his full name tshaka menelik imhotep campbell!) flings meaningful bullets out from the roads he crosses! really inspiring!
vito camarretta, chain d.l.k., usa 12/10

tshaka is a great urban poet and with the ‚we‘ track backed up by some great beats courtesy of me raabenstein, if you like saul williams you’ll be feeling the new ep out on nonine recordings.
james barrie, global souljah & bbe records  radio show, spain 12/10

tshaka was an astounding surprise to me! an inventing mix of afro-beat and weird electronics with a spoken-word tinged vocals. superb!
pedro figueiredo portela, o dominio dos deuses, portugal 12/10

this release is bananas !!! i love it all, usually avoiding ’spoken word‘ like the plague but i took to this in a flash !!! ’spit‘ will be rocked jubilously on the ‚hit It and quit It radio show‘ tonight in fact!
matthew chicoine aka reclosse,  new zealand 11/10

schicke tracks…
mathias schaffhäuser, ware records, germany 11/10

well produced duby & afro flavours. cinematics and modern too. i like it…
andrea benini, mob mob, italy 11/10

‚tshaka – archangel‘, like it – fine fine…
menno jager, sound of swound radio show, netherlands 11/10

i like tshaka’s style, good flow…
kerem gokmen, dubmission radioshow, usa 11/10