New Rhumba Gods

By Kabura Ng'ang'a

There is music that we found most of our parents listening to and I can bet that most of the cassettes they owned were filled with Rhumba joints. We probably hated them then because we didn’t understand anything that was going on there but with time, some of us have found ourselves digging through our parents’ music collections to listen to some of those cassettes. If not, we have found ourselves sitting at club simmers (before it was closed down) or through band nights just to listen to rhumba.

Through the years, music has shaped, evolved, crumbled and reshaped and taking into different forms. Artists have also redefined music and its genres and picked up completely new sounds or married old sounds to the new ones. Artists such as ‘The Red Acapella’ have done so seamlessly and beautifully.

Red Acapella is a duo group with the guys ‘Yabadoo’ and ‘Magga’. Magga has the natural Rhumba sound in his voice and sincerely if he was doing something other than Rhumba, it would not make sense. His voice is rich and lovely to the ear. Yabadoo on the other hand has a smooth and sultry voice that is soft but strong to the ear. They complement each other’s voice so well and they are beautiful to listen to. They describe their sound as Neo-Rhumba and without a doubt; you listen to their music you can easily sing Papa Lolo to lyrics that you might not know well and it will fit very well.

I watched them do an acoustic set on Saturday at the Michael Joseph centre and someone commented, ‘all I need is a beer now’, as is the only way to listen to Rhumba. They kept everyone happy and dancing. They are the kind of band you want to listen to all night and you will not get tired or sweat from the dancing because, Rhumba ni muziki bila jasho.

I have no doubt that Red Acapella is the band that makes it big because Rhumba has dictated so. Have a wild go at their music and enjoy it.

Download Red Acapella Music for FREE on Mdundo