Wageble - Rap New Generation (Senegal/Norway, 2003)
Driving through the banlieu (outskirts) of Dakar in January 2003 we noticed that there's more graffiti on the side of the 'autoroute' than a few years ago. On asking people if all elements of hip hop culture are being represented in Senegal these days, we were told about Wageble, a crew who were doing just that. Though we failed to meet up, a few months later the post brought a package from Norway containing their first album on cd. Wageble have been around for about 5 years but until recently their only work available on the market were tracks on the compilations 'Yow elek Senegal' and 'Senegal Dufi Yem' released by Studio Yes. Their first full album was produced by a Norwegian crew.
The combination of Senegalese emcees and Norwegian producers might sound a bit odd like Japanese recording a rock album in Albania, but remember that Dakar has previously attracted many international hip hop heads for collabos, such as Djinji Brown (on PBS' 1997 album, see our review), Steven the German owner of Studio Yes, Tony Blackman from the States who worked with Gokh-bi system, and the list goes on. So Norwegian production company Two Thou hooked up with Wageble to put out an album of ten tracks, and a week-long street festival in Dakar last June to celebrate the release. The title track sets the tone here on the production side, a tune that wouldn't be out of place in a dj-set playing DMX or recent Nas songs. Chanted choruses, flows owing to Wu-Tang, turntable wizardry and stomping beats prove that the underground is alive and kicking. No r&b crossover here, but we trust that Senegal has enough fans of a more rugged sound to make sure that the star of Wageble will rise. See http://wageble.com for details on how to get hold of the album.