Every so often a particular influence affects music in a way that can be seen through widespread artist convergence. Some band or some artist starts the trend and other groups latch on until, in retrospect, it can be officially looked at as an era. There are plenty of examples ranging from the days of disco to the birth of grunge. Right now indie music is experiencing a similar stimulation with the growth of a genre that has largely been away from the mainstream. This genre is global music and it's making a footprint on the sonic landscape today. Early rumblings of pounding African drums and Caribbean beats started way back with the release of Paul Simon's Graceland. His work faded away until a now widely popular group, Vampire Weekend, picked up on his brand of catchy Afro pop. Vampire Weekend achieved great levels of success with their global music, and the trend quickly caught on and has proliferated throughout music today.
Esau Mwamwaya is from the heart of Africa and his music is now able to come to the forefront of the indie scene due to this recent explosion of global sound. People like M.I.A, Animal Collective, and Architecture in Helsinki have paved the way for Esau. Through their use of eclectic instrumentation that takes root in tribal African sound, Esau has been able to generate a great bit of hype for the release of his upcoming LP. However, in the meantime he has teamed up with the very people that are allowing him to become a commercial success. "Kamphopo" is an excellent single that has Esau singing over Architecture in Helsinki's "Heart it races." He really outdoes the original track as he puts an extremely uplifting voice to an already perfectly constructed "global" beat. Esau claims to be "the African Phil Collins", but Phil could never achieve the kind of euphoria that Esau makes seem so routine. Keep a look out for a mix tape to be released shortly with collaborations between Esau, M.I.A, Vampire Weekend, Santagold, and others.
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