MELO-T, the Zimbabwean-born Canadian producer, DJ and musician, is back with ‘For The Culture 2‘, the second instalment of his ‘For The Culture’ series. As in the previous one, the artist puts forward the African musical culture.
In his first project he dealt with Afro-influenced music in Brazil like baile funk and rave funk, and in ‘For The Culture 2‘, the artist focuses on Southern African dance music with an emphasis on amapiano and afrohouse.
And as expected, all the characteristics of amapiano can be found in this 5-track EP. The bass and kick drum are present on ‘Knock The Drum’, techno and electro sounds on ‘We Outside’, deep soul on ‘A Piano Story’ and the piano links on ‘Yanos’.
Concerning the inspiration for this project, MELO-T said that he was “inspired by the different afro-influenced music hubs thriving around the world. This series is all about shedding light on and highlighting African club culture, and while the first instalment focused on the afrocentric sounds of Brazil, ‘For The Culture 2’ is an ode to the sounds of Southern Africa where I come from, especially amapiano and afrohouse”.
He added that, “Several afro-based or afro-influenced music genres have shaped the way the world listens to music today, but they’re often overlooked, I’m just trying to give these communities their flowers and accolades“.
Given his musically-influenced childhood, it was only to be expected that this project would pay tribute to the rhythm of his youth. He has also been inspired by South African house music legend Black Coffee and Zimbabwean Afro-jazz icon Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi.
This ability to inject his African cultural references into global sounds is undoubtedly the reason why he is one of Ottawa’s finest new artists. In addition, his unique art has been recognized as a significant contribution to Canada’s cultural landscape by the Ontario Arts Council and Ottawa Arts Council, among others.
You can go and listen to this wonderful project just below.
