Voice Notes and Sound Clips

Voice notes and sound clips is a soundscape produced by dj afifa. The is a 5:55 length composition of voice notes and sound clips collected by dj afifa featuring music by Sheibo Sekito


Voice notes and sound clips is the first in a series for the music and memory project by dj afifa. 

Listen to Voice notes and sound clips here 

Download voice notes and soundclips here 

The History of ganja in Jamaica

This is a project by dj afifa. It was created for the Whitenoise mixtape in 2018. It was also featured on the Umbalembe project curated by Zanj Rracc in 2018.

Ganja (Marijuana, Cannabis) was decriminalized in Jamaica in 2015. Individuals are now been allowed to possess and grow limited amounts of the plant. The decriminalization has made way for the development of a medicinal Cannabis industry with a licensing authority, licensed growers, export arrangements and dispensaries called herb houses. There is now an even stronger demarcation between the legal and illegal trade in ganja. Ganja continues to be classified as a drug, which is regularly seized and destroyed by the Jamaican police.

Download the History of Ganja in Jamaica here

Listen to the History of Ganja in Jamaica here

Flies

Flies is a nu-music track produced by dj afifa for Sounds of Life.

Flies is a poem written by Zanj Rracc. It is performed by him and recorded in the Zanj Radio Studios in St.Andrew Jamaica.

 

 “ I was sitting at my doorway one day and there was a lot of flies, flies were attacking me and there was no water because of a water lock off. I was thinking about politicians in Jamaica and how we shouldn't live on an island surrounded by water and be without water...it was just a poem that came to me….” Dj Zanj Rracc

For this production dj afifa added ambiance or atmospheric quality to the track using a sample from the beginning of the sitting of the house of parliament in Jamaica.

“i listened to the vocals and imagined the sound of the flies, then I started to think about how that sound was similar to the hum of voices then I heard the hum m of voices at the beginning at the beginning” Dj Afifa

download flies here

New Release: Soundscapes

Soundscapes is a project by dj afifa for  Sounds of Life. Each soundscape features material from her favourite netlabels, original nu-music tracks and field recordings. The most recent release features tracks from bump foot, a netlabel bases in Japan.


Download soundscapes here

Track list
dj afifa - sons and daughters of Marcus Garvey compose an unfinished melody
Shin Wada - Dignity, Always Dignity-
dj afifa - the body of a 9 yr old girl
Sciuza - Leaving The Cities
dj afifa - building nations on small islands
Ishii Fuwa - Orbital Eccentricity
ish10 yow1r0 - experimental android work 01
dj afifa - the body of a 9 yr old girl
beatsgo - Da Future
Chico Correa & Electronic Band - Bossinha (Aquilez Remix)
Lavoura - MM Moods
Non m'importa della luna - Uchu (Orquesta Pandroginia Remix)

Nothing Matters nu-music by dj afifa

Nothing matters is the latest nu-music release from dj afifa. Nothing matters is the name of a poem and a collection of haikus, poems and writings published by dj afifa earlier this year.

Nothing matters expresses the frustration with injustice in Jamaica and the coming to terms with the nature of life as a result of it. The nu-music track was produced by dj afifa and features her performance of the poem.

Nu-music is how she refers to experimental audio productions which gives insight into the daily realities of the artist. Nothing matters reflects a basic production style using Audacity for recording mixing and mastering the track. The track was produced in the Zanj Radio studios at the SO((U))L HQ in St.Andrew Jamaica.

The track is free to download and is released under the creative commons license; other artist are free to share, redistribute and remix the track.
There will be a limited number of physical copies released early in 2019 available for sale at the SO(U))L HQ and Di Institute for Social Leadership in Jamaica.

Zanj Radio premiers Umbalembe

Umbalembe is a soundscape documentary about the island of Jamaica curated by Zanj Racc. The project is based on the work of Zanj Racc and DJ Afifa, sound artist who live and work in Jamaica. The artwork for the project was designed by Isabel Dennis. 

In August 2018 a preview of the project was presented at the Umbalembe event at Mazola’s “playground” in Gordon Town, St. Andrew Jamaica. The event was an attempt to introduce sound art.

Zanj Racc explained that the key to curating Umbalemebe was to organize the material into themes and then present a macro and micro perspective on life in Jamaica.

Umbalembe premiered on Saturday Nov 10 on Zanj Radio during World Music Fusion with Dj Zanj Racc.

Listen to Umbalembe by downloading the Zanj Radio app for Android or Apple devices or via soundcloud.

DJ afifa presents: the Dub Poetry mixtape vol.1

Here is the most recent release of the Dub Poetry mixtape by dj afifa. The mixtape was created in 2017 for Ras Takura's "Dis Poem Wordz and Agro Fest" at the Neville Antonio Park in Port Antonio, Portland.

The mix was first aired during the Electromagnetic Radiation with dj afifa on Zanj Radio.The artwork for this mixtape are from pictures taken by Sokari Ekine at the Studio Be art gallery in New Orleans.

"I will be doing more mixtapes like this. Dub poetry is an art form that has influenced my life significantly.I am actively looking for new dub poets all over the world, i enjoying compiling interesting work and interesting ideas in the "dub style"- dj afifa

Physical copies of the mixtape can be purchased at the Sounds of Life store at the So((u))l hq, or Di Institute for Social Leadership.

Can we use recordings to reflect on who we are?

This track is a recent release by dj afifa. She combines two news items to make a track which she describes as a "sonic mirror". Can we still hear ourselves? and can what we hear show us who we are?

Nu Jazz meets Jamaican djing and dub poetry

This track is a dj afifa remix of the I-I chant written and performed as a dub poem by Jamaican dub poet Iyunda. This version revisits the Jamaican djing and dub poetry chanting styles. In Jamaican music tradition, the dj chants lyrics over a riddim while the dub poet chants poetry to a reggae or dub riddim. Count Matchuki, King Stitt and U-Roy are highlighted as the early pioneers of the dj style in Jamaican music. Dj afifa’s production of the I-I chant is inspired by U-Roy’s Natty Rebel album released in 1976 under Virgin Records.
The I-I Chant fuses the djing and dub poetry chanting styles in Jamaican music with a jazz hip-hop riddim or Nu jazz track produced by Japanese dj, composer and arranger Uyama Hirato. The instrumental track Autumn is taken from the Freedom of the son album released 2014.
bless and love.