The question jumped in full confinement, when a catchy song titled Stylish black it became a momentary milestone. It was a song composed and performed by the Nigerian musician and artist Wekaforé Jibril, better known in the sound field as Spirit Disco.
Which is how he signed the aforementioned composition, performed in collaboration with Jimmy Bones. Spirit Disco is also one of the backbones of the African music scene in Barcelona. Where he resides for a few years.
In fact Wekaforé is already a reference in the music scene thanks to his condition as vocalist and co-founder of the group Egosex, which has already passed through festivals such as Vida or Sónar. And he is also a fashion designer, with his own successful brand. In any case, it is his vocation / desire to make visible that local black or racialized musical / artistic scene that has transcended and dimensioned his role.
Wekaforé, musically known as Spirit Disco, was one of the creators of the famous Woodoo Club of Poble Espanyol
In fact, his journey in Barcelona – where he arrived in 2017 – started and attracted the spotlight when a few years ago he decided with a colleague to found the Woodoo Club, in the Upload room of Poble Espanyol. A place where you can enjoy people and music without skin color being an inconvenience or an exclusive apriorism, as he himself had previously verified in the Catalan capital.
As a result of the success of the experience –with a periodicity of one day a month– Weka verified the existence and strength of the music made by black and racialized people in the city and in Catalonia. A scene already with an ingrained tradition and with brilliant examples –Nakany Kanté–, but with a very intermittent and totally washed-out protagonism. And taking advantage of a platform / tool like the Woodoo Club and his own career as a musician, he got down to work creating the Woodoo Music record label, among other projects, to give voice and sound not only to that scene but to musicians in general.
Very involved in the project – direct responsibility of Wekaforé – is the manager and cultural agitator Daddy Sevi. “More than a musical role, Weka leads a movement. What is happening in Barcelona is not a musical move, a specific and identifying musical style, that is, it is not the Afrobeat revolution for example. Afrobeat may in any case be the soundtrack of something that is happening. In Barcelona, in Catalonia, there are already second and third generations of Afro-descendant black population or racialized people who claim their space, not only on an artistic level, but also bureaucratic, labor or business ”.
Nigerian musician and fashion designer Wekaforé Jibril is one of the driving forces behind the initiative
In his opinion, what Weka does is also political. “They are an important part of society, it is not a niche, there are not four kill yourselvesThey are part of it and want to change it. And I decide to work with them because they represent me. They have a very equitable way of thinking and doing. In Barcelona something super handsome is happening at a black or racialized cultural level that is beginning to emerge, with models and models very handsome, promoters, dancers, designers, producers, painters, with a pan-African vision and therefore modern ”.
Sevi’s opinion is not unique, and perhaps now this parallel reality is beginning to become visible, also musically. “The label reflects a powerful scene and we want it to be a gateway to Africa here and there. Barcelona needed a platform where to give way to all these cultural concerns that until now had not existed. And of this Barcelona scene, Spirit Disco is its guru ”.
This, that is, Wekaforé Jibril, the first thing you want to remember for the umpteenth time is that Woodoo Music is an inclusive record company, “like our parties, this is open to everyone. We want to bet heavily on music because it is the best way to communicate “.
In addition to making artists and music visible, the objective is to turn Barcelona into a pole of creation, attracting musicians from all over the world
There is a long way to go, starting with the fact that “there is no established black music scene in Barcelona. We want to propose a way of working and betting on Barcelona at this time. In our catalog, so to speak, there are Italian, Colombian, and many African artists. [el dúo Blood on the Marble, el beatmaker Afternight o la nigeriana Simblackk, por ejemplo], and we are trying to record with artists established here in connection with artists who are outside of Spain so that they come to Barcelona. They are things that are not seen but that fill you with pride ”.
And it proposes something of even strategic depth in these moments of crisis. “We see Barcelona as the free space that can represent the framework that the artist wants. If a Nigerian musician comes to London, he finds a Nigerian scene already established and often saturated. Here you will find a more free and open space to create your flow and your identity. What we want to promote is culture, not just black music ”.
–
