Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio
Can't Stop Playing
Habib Koite, 'L.A.'
Dirk Leunis/Courtesy of the artist
For his latest album, Soo, Malian singer-songwriter and guitarist Habib Koite let go of his standard rhythm
guitar and replaced it with the banjo, one of the few times I've heard a contemporary African pop artist use
what's essentially an African instrument. "L.A." is particularly great; I like the way Koite's banjo player uses
the instrument at times as rhythm guitar, at times for the melody. The lyrics are funny for those who
understand Bambara, the popular language of the Malian people — they poke fun at Koite and American blues
artist Eric Bibb's tour in the U.S., and compare various landscapes of California to those of Mali. --Emmanuel
Nado, KALW's Africa Mix
http://www.npr.org/2014/05/28/314892104/heavy-rotation-10-songs-public-radio-cant-stop-playing