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In the initial stages of the pandemic, while many of us were trying to figure out our lives and next career moves, Trinidad and Tobago rapper Braveboy says that he spent a lot of his extra downtime networking, learning about different cultures, and experimenting with different styles of music. One of the styles that really captured his attention was the globally trending, Afrocentric, and fashionable Afrobeats music.
The style of Afrobeats reflects popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s.
“It’s a bit crazy when I think about it, but as black Caribbean people, we all have roots in Africa and for some reason, I felt like there was a disconnect between the Caribbean and the motherland and I felt myself wanting to connect more. There are so many cultural and musical similarities with Afrobeats music and Soca/Dancehall music, that it just felt like a natural musical adventure for me to embark on.” said Braveboy
He decided that the best way to start this journey was to actually contact an artist from the continent via social media, which connected him to Nigerian afrobeat artist Dellfire. This friendship and business relationship birthed two collaborations. The first track titled AfribbeanGyal is a celebration of African and Caribbean dark-skinned beauty, dedicated to all the melanin queens across the globe. The song was produced by Nigerian music producer, Hitsound, whose remake beat of Wizkid and Tem’s hit single “Essence”, went viral when US rapper Da Baby hopped on it to do a popular freestyle version of the song.
A music video for the collaboration was also released in 2021, with scenes shot in Lagos, Nigeria and Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, featuring the Trinidad and Tobago dance crew XOriginals and directed by Caribbean filmmaker Michael Mooleedhar.
Braveboy and Dellfire even honored the #EndSars movement in Nigeria with a tribute clip at the end of the video to speak up against police brutality in Nigeria.
In 2022, they collaborated again and this time Braveboy jumped on Dellfire’s new single “Choke”, adding his West Indian swagger to the track, making it a perfect song for the clubs and parties as the world is slowly but surely opening up again.
The song “Choke”, produced by Nigerian music producer Jayprolytah, was inspired by the Nigerian street slang E-Choke, made popular by Afrobeats superstar Davido. The slang is used to refer to something that is ‘amazing’, ‘spectacular’, or ‘out of this world’. The context in this song however referred to the beauty of a love interest, as the catchy chorus says “Gyal ya body e-choke.”
The song premiered on U.S radio recently on KEXP 90.3 FM’s Overnight Afrobeats hosted by Lace Cadence, and also premiered in London on the black-owned online radio station No Signal Radio hosted by Super Midz, who is the official Dj for Afrobeats superstar Afro B.
Check out the video on Youtube:
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