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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Poster/Print

    Limited Edition of 20 A2 posters, designed and risoprinted by Jan Reimann.

    Imagery taken from the Lekeo videoshoot with dancer Carlos Becho.
    ** Worldwide shipping will be from Switzerland, not the UK **
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 20 

      £12 GBP or more 

     

1.
Lekeo 03:14 video
LEKEO [ewe] Comment [fr] How [en] Mia Mila tsite ,Africa Hip hop Mia Mila kiki Nous allons nous lever, le hip hop d'Afrique nous on va vraiment le secouer We will stand up, African Hip hop, we will really shake it Ne Africa le noyé tsan Mia Mila pusi tu si. Même si l'Afrique de bout aujourd'hui nous allons surnager Even though Africa is standing today, we will overswimm Hele hele le akodjo ye mno klodi Je suis à genoux car j'ai le cœur serré I kneeled down because my heart feels tight Nye ma so Mio si la fio fike ye mso Je ne vais jamais nier d'où je viens I’m not going to deny where I come from Dume manyo,medokui ma djesi Les choses qui vont mal te font oublier qui tu es Things that go bad make you forget who you are Elana ola djo la gblé pomeo tadè C'est ce qui te fait prendre le mauvais chemin et abandonner les tiens This is what makes you take the wrong path and abandon your folks Djin nkusi ndekpe ngbaleo A l'horizon il n'y a rien Over the horizon there’s nothing Ola so ta la po atsi hey voa ola kissi. Tu vas te battre, te battre mais ton esprit sera paralysé You’re going to fight, to fight but your mind will remain paralyzed. Ngba bidjio eya kan otchan. Ne sois pas fâché cela te concerne toi aussi Don’t be angry, this concerns you too Minoto nyatepe ne Mia novio newa dezon. Il faut savoir dire la vérité à nos frères pour qu'ils avancent dans la vie We must know how to tell the truth to our brothers so they carry on in life San okumi djo miya fifia obe Mia dzo. A l'époque, ils venaient nous chercher aujourd'hui, ils nous demandent de rentrer chez nous By the time, they would come to get us today, they ask us to go back home Refrain :Lekeo lekeo lekeolekeo . Comment comment comment comment How How How How De gblo pe ogblona dele novinye degblope ogblona dele. Les histoires se suivent et se ressemblent Do Stories follow each other and look alike Amekeo la se haya ndji ne o sea ne susu ne ma trona o la Je veux changer les esprits de ceux qui écoutent ce chant I want to change the minds of the ones listening to this chant Ne woase ne miakeke Mia wodo soe ntsi ne nusianu ne ma zo la Que tout le monde entende cela et se mette au travail So that everyone hears that and starts working Africa nye Agbe Africa nye some Africa nye kesinonuo Kata l'Afrique c'est la vie Africa is life L'Afrique c'est demain Africa is tomorrow l'Afrique c'est toutes les richesses Africa is all the wealth Somadja yooo (cri du coeur) Somadja Yooo Somadja Yooo Hododuio hododuio hododuio. Eya ye nye nukao egome nye mle seo Ça ça veut dire quoi, je ne sais pas ce que ça veut dire What does that mean, I don’t know what that means Aklo so yi lybie de megbo mla sio Il faut être fou ou désespéré pour rejoindre la Libye en pirogue One must be crazy or desperate in order to reach Libya on a pirogue Asa pome magni gba bé yaso kpo hotsia. Vendre le terrain de ta famille pour chercher l'Eldorado Sell your family’s land to search for Eldorado Ole gblè olé gblé ole gblè mede kpe mule seo On parle, on parle mais personne n’écoute We are talking, we are talking but no one listens Migbao migbao nuwan djo nyo néné Arrêtez arrêtez ça suffit comme ça Stop stop, it’s enough like that Midjesi miadokuio midjesi miadokuio. Connaissez-vous vous-même, connaissez-vous vous-même Do you know yourself, do you know yourself Gbeto tro zu kpono ole Sao gbandjo L’homme est devenu du pain vendu une misère Man has turned into bread sold for trifles Deviwo tsan olé houamé olé sa o gbandjo. Les enfants sont aussi dans la pirogue, ils sont aussi vendus Children too are on the pirogue, they’re being sold aswell Djumegan dju kplola mikpo Nya de miagblo,ewo nuzizi. Dirigeants, gouverneurs, il faut dire quelque chose, c'est triste Leaders, governors, you must say something, this is sad Libye Algérie ku tunisie menyan ke mile gbloa. Ce qu'il se passe en Libye, en Algérie, en Tunisie What happens in Libya, Algeria, Tunisia Mede mu le so de le meo gake nye mule von Moi j'en parle mais tout le monde s'en fiche I do speak about it but no one cares Gake me Mila tsite medekpe fon Quand on va se lever, d'autres dormiront encore When we’ll stand up, some will stay asleep Medekpe matchio. D'autres vont regarder Others will watch Medekpe ma kpo. D'autres resteront aveugles Others will remain blind

about

Lekeo is the new single from Yao Bobby & Simon Grab, ahead of their album 'WUM' on LAVALAVA later this year.

Lekeo is a war cry. This piece contains the rage of the people of the African continent on its knees which seeks the means to get up because it will never admit defeat. Lekeo symbolizes the choices of thousands of unarmed men and women who choose to fight, with surrender not being an option.

The music video Lekeo is a collaboration between Rapper Yao Bobby, noise artist Simon Grab and filmmakers Jonathan Jäggi and Tobias Kubli. The togolese Rapper and political activist Yao Bobby created with swiss noisemaker Simon Grab a musically and lyrically furious soundscape. What seems like a superficially chaotic environment turns out to be outright and precise. Using a thermal camera the filmmakers build on the idea of alleged chaos, so that the image has no visual reference point. Placing a character in it, gives them the possibility to structure the room
within the subject's inner limitations.
Therefore they collaborated with the choreographer Rafał Pierzyński and the contemporary dancer Carlos Becho to develop movements and a narrative which merge the lack of space with self - empowerment and strength. Aiming abstraction the thermal camera stages the moving subject and lets it be attracted by an indefinable object.
The texture of the body gets an inner glow and ephemeral conditions between hard and soft.

World Premiere of the music video LEKEO in The Wire Magazine:
www.thewire.co.uk/video/watch-yao-bobby-simon-grab-lekeo-1

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released February 25, 2022

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Yao Bobby & Simon Grab Agbodrafo, Togo

The togolese Rapper and political activist Yao Bobby collaborates with swiss noisemaker Simon Grab. An intense soundbattle between energetic rhymes fired into a dark soundworld of raw electronic bass pulsations with a dubby punk attitude, produced on analog feedback electronics. Their show is a very raw and improvised form of live experimental hiphop – ‚Freeform Rap and Noise’. ... more

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