Afrobeats at the Africa Centre with Dudu Sarr

Alice Gbelia

Over the past few years, African music has become mainstream, with African stars such as Amadou and Mariam from Mali doing gigs with the likes of Damon Albarn - the infamous Africa Express gigs in 2008 that started out in Bamako, Mali and stopped at Koko in London. We also fondly remember the Double Cub, a bar/restaurant/art installation in Angel that brought together influences from the West and the Congo.

Dudu Sarr (c) Joel Chant

For Dudu Sarr, music consultant, world music DJ and one of the personalities of the Afro scene in London, African music is not just a fad. Sarr has just launched Motherland Music , an agency that supports up and coming African musicians and helps them achieve their full potential in the international circuit.” The artists on his roster are “Suzanna Owiyo who is Kenya’s number one female artist and a young and very talented guy from Senegal by the name of Carlou D. Both artists are making inroads in the world music circuit. Carlou D’s album will be released in Spring 2010 and Suzanna Oyiwo’s shortly after that. They will both be touring Europe next summer so I am sure you will get a chance to see them.”

Another aspect of Dudu Sarr’s work is to provide corporate entertainment services to companies like UBS. Sarr also travels the world to promote African music and acts as a “programming consultant for a festival like Territorios in Sevilla, Spain. I was also jury member for this year’s Womex which the main industry event for the world music community”.

Dud Sarr’s take on this renewed interest in African music is that “it’s here to stay. The latest trend is part of the fact that the general public is becoming more and more aware of Africa as a whole. South Africa hosting the world cup means that the spotlight will be more than ever on anything African and music is the biggest pull.”

After a 10 year DJ residency at London’s exclusive restaurant Momo, where he’s been organising the highly successful Afrotronic nights, Sarr is starting a new night called Hi Life at the iconic Africa Centre, the first one being the New Year’s Eve party that “promises to be a great night celebrating the vast range of Afro inspired music. The Africa Centre was the launch pad of many African Artists coming to London and the notorious Jazzie B Back to Life sessions so it’s only fit that we hold our Hi Life parties there.” Expect “a round the world music trip” with coupe-decale (Ivory Coast), zouk (French West Indies), ndombolo (the Congo), kuduro (Angola), kwaito (South Africa), hip life (Ghana), afrobeat (Nigeria & world) soul and r&b. This inclusive music policy attracts an equally diverse and open-minded crowd: “We believe in the right mix. Variety is the spice of life. “

Afrobeats at the Africa Centre with Dudu Sarr

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